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Pyrenean shepherd

(Encyclopedia)Pyrenean shepherd or Berger des Pyrénées, breed of medium-sized herding dog that originated in the Pyrenees of S France; its name is often shortened to pyr shep. The breed comes in two varieties, th...

Basie, Count

(Encyclopedia)Basie, Count (William Basie) bāˈsē [key], 1904–84, American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer, b. Red Bank, N.J. After working in dance halls and vaudeville in New York City, Basie moved to ...

Della Robbia

(Encyclopedia)Della Robbia dĕlˌə rŏbˈēə, Ital. dĕlˈlä rôbˈbyä [key], Florentine family of sculptors and ceramists famous for their enameled terra-cotta or faience. Many of the Della Robbia pieces are s...

Hare, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Hare, Sir David, 1947–, British playwright. Hare is a prominent member of the British theatrical left. A founder of the Portable Theatre and the Joint Stock, he became resident dramatist at the Roya...

redstart

(Encyclopedia)redstart, common name for an Old World thrush of the genus Phoenicurus, family Turdidae. A small, slender-legged songbird, it is found in woodlands, parks, and heaths. The European redstart, P. phoeni...

spruce

(Encyclopedia)spruce, any plant of the genus Picea, evergreen trees or shrubs of the family Pinaceae (pine family) widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. The needles are angular in cross section, rather tha...

damselfish

(Encyclopedia)damselfish, common name for members of the large family Pomacentridae, marine fishes of tropical waters. Common in the West Indies and along the Florida coasts are the sergeant-major, named for its ve...

cornflower

(Encyclopedia)cornflower, common herb (Centaurea cyanus) of the family Asteraceae (aster family). It is a garden flower in the United States but a weed in the grainfields of Europe. It is called bluebottle or bluet...

Colorado–Big Thompson project

(Encyclopedia)Colorado–Big Thompson project, constructed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to divert water from the headstreams of the Colorado River to irrigate c.720,000 acres (291,400 hectares) of land in NE C...

azurite

(Encyclopedia)azurite ăzhˈərīt [key], blue mineral, the basic carbonate of copper, occurring in monoclinic crystals or masses that range from transparent to translucent and opaque. It is usually associated with...