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charcoal

(Encyclopedia)charcoal, substance obtained by partial burning or carbonization (destructive distillation) of organic material. It is largely pure carbon. The entry of air during the carbonization process is control...

vestments

(Encyclopedia)vestments, garments worn by ecclesiastics in ceremonial functions. The cassock, a close-fitting gown buttoning down the front and reaching to the feet, is not a vestment so much as the daily uniform o...

astringent

(Encyclopedia)astringent əstrĭnˈjənt [key], substance that shrinks body tissues. Astringent medicines cause shrinkage of mucous membranes or exposed tissues and are often used internally to check discharge of s...

Kerr, Judith

(Encyclopedia)Kerr, Judith (Anna Judith Gertrud Helene Kerr), 1923–2019, English children's book author and illustrator, b. Berlin. Her first and most well-known book, The Tiger Who Came to Tea (1968), tells of a...

myxedema

(Encyclopedia)myxedema mĭksədēˈmə [key], condition associated with severe hypothyroidism and lack of thyroid hormone in the adult. In the child it is known as cretinism. Symptoms include a dry swelling of the ...

Shebele, Webe

(Encyclopedia)Shebele, Webe shēbāˈlē [key], river, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) long, rising near Mt. Guramba, central Ethiopia, E Africa, and flowing SE into central Somalia. It comes within c.20 mi (30 km) of the In...

bayberry

(Encyclopedia)bayberry, common name for the Myricaceae, a family of trees and shrubs with aromatic foliage, found chiefly in temperate and subtropical regions. The waxy gray “berries” of the North American wild...

Talcahuano

(Encyclopedia)Talcahuano tälkäwäˈnō [key], city (1990 est. pop. 246,900), S central Chile, a port on the Pacific Ocean, part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. On the best harbor along the Chilean coast, ...

Nez Percé

(Encyclopedia)Nez Percé nĕz pûrs, nā pĕrsāˈ [key] [Fr.,=pierced nose], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Sahaptin-Chinook branch of the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American langu...

Falmouth, town, England

(Encyclopedia)Falmouth fălˈməth [key], town, Cornwall, SW England, on a small peninsula between Falmouth ...