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whooping cough

(Encyclopedia)whooping cough or pertussis, highly communicable infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. The early or catarrhal stage of whooping cough is manifested by the usual symptoms of ...

Coulomb, Charles Augustin de

(Encyclopedia)Coulomb, Charles Augustin de ko͞oˈlŏm, ko͞olŏmˈ, Fr. shärl ōgüstăNˈ də ko͞olôNˈ [key], 1736–1806, French physicist. In 1789 he retired from his posts as military engineer and as super...

monkeypox

(Encyclopedia)monkeypox, rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, which is related to the viruses that cause smallpox and cowpox. The symptoms of monkeypox, which typically take 1 to 2 weeks to ap...

bagpipe

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Scottish bagpipe bagpipe, musical instrument whose ancient origin was probably in Mesopotamia from which it was carried east and west by Celtic migrations. It was used in ancient Greece and Ro...

Abishag

(Encyclopedia)Abishag ăbˈəshăg [key], in the Bible, Shunammite woman, David's attendant in his old age and the indirect cause of Adonijah's murder. ...

corrosion

(Encyclopedia)corrosion, atmospheric oxidation of metals (see oxidation and reduction). By far the most important form of corrosion is the rusting of iron. Rusting is essentially a process of oxidation in which iro...

Algol, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Algol ălˈgŏl [key], famous variable star in the constellation Perseus; Bayer designation β Persei; 1992 position R.A. 3h07.7m, Dec. +40°55′. Algol's variation in apparent magnitude, from 2.06 t...

lettuce

(Encyclopedia)lettuce, annual garden plant (Lactuca sativa and varieties) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), probably native to the East Indies or Asia Minor, possibly as a derivative of the widespread weed c...

wheel

(Encyclopedia)wheel. Through the many millennia of the Paleolithic period and the Neolithic period no use of the wheel was known to humans. Its use was not known to the Native Americans until the Europeans introduc...

Picts

(Encyclopedia)Picts, ancient inhabitants of central and N Scotland, of uncertain origin. First mentioned (a.d. 297) by the Roman writer Eumenius as northern invaders of Roman Britain, they were probably descendants...