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Wolf-Ferrari, Ermanno

(Encyclopedia)Wolf-Ferrari, Ermanno ārmänˈnō vôlf-fār-räˈrē [key], 1876–1948, German-Italian composer, b. Venice, studied in Germany. Most of his 12 operas, which adapted the opera buffa style of the 18t...

Moos, Ludwig von

(Encyclopedia)Moos, Ludwig von lo͝otˈvĭkh fən mo͞os [key], 1910–90, Swiss political leader. Entering politics in his native town of Sachseln, he served (1941–46) as its president. He was later a government...

gunboat

(Encyclopedia)gunboat, small warship for use on rivers and along coasts in places inaccessible to vessels of larger displacement. In the U.S. Civil War both sides used as gunboats, on the Mississippi and other rive...

entrapment

(Encyclopedia)entrapment, in law, the instigation of a crime in the attempt to obtain cause for a criminal prosecution. Situations in which a government operative merely provides the occasion for the commission of ...

Plehve, Vyacheslav Konstantinovich

(Encyclopedia)Plehve, Vyacheslav Konstantinovich vyĕˌchĭsläfˈ kənstəntyēˈnəvĭch plyĕˈvyĭ [key], 1846–1904, Russian public official. As director of the police (1881–84), vice minister of the interi...

Stepniak, S.

(Encyclopedia)Stepniak, S. styĭpnyäkˈ [key], 1852–95, Russian revolutionary and writer, whose real name was Sergei Mikhailovich Kravchinski. He fled Russia in 1878 after taking part in the assassination of the...

Yellowknife

(Encyclopedia)Yellowknife, city (1991 pop. 15,179), capital of the Northwest Territories, Canada, on the north shore of Great Slave Lake, at the mouth of the Yellowknife River. It is the largest city in the Northwe...

confession

(Encyclopedia)confession, in law, the formal admission of criminal guilt, usually obtained in the course of examination by the police or prosecutor or at trial. For a confession to be admissible as evidence against...

vagrancy

(Encyclopedia)vagrancy, in law, term applied to the offense of persons who are without visible means of support or domicile while able to work. State laws and municipal ordinances punishing vagrancy often also cove...

benedictine

(Encyclopedia)benedictine bĕnədĭkˈtēn [key], sweet liqueur originated in 1510 by Benedictine monks at Fécamp, France, and now manufactured by a secular concern on the grounds of the old abbey. Every bottle be...