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mortar, in warfare

(Encyclopedia)mortar, in warfare, term originally applied to certain types of artillery with high trajectories, but later applied to an infantry weapon that consists of a tube supported by a bipod that fires a proj...

Granjon, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Granjon, Robert grănˈjən, Fr. rōbĕrˈ gräNzhôNˈ [key], fl. 1545–88, French designer of type and printer. He began his work in Paris and afterward worked in Lyons, Antwerp, and Rome. The type...

shooting

(Encyclopedia)shooting, firing with rifle, shotgun, pistol, or revolver at stationary or moving targets. The term shooting is also used in Great Britain to mean small-game hunting. In the 19th cent. the sport of ri...

miracle

(Encyclopedia)miracle, preternatural occurrence that is viewed as the expression of a divine will. Its awe and wonder lie in the fact that the cause is hidden. The idea of the miracle occurs especially with the evo...

gambling

(Encyclopedia)gambling or gaming, betting of money or valuables on, and often participation in, games of chance (some involving degrees of skill). In England and in the United States, gambling was not a common-law ...

Dyck, Christopher van

(Encyclopedia)Dyck, Christopher van vän dīkˈ [key], 1601–c.1672, German designer and maker of printing type, who worked in Amsterdam. Types that he designed were used by the Elzevir firm. His roman typeface wa...

Didrikson, Babe

(Encyclopedia)Didrikson, Babe (Mildred Didrikson) dēˈdrĭksən [key], 1913–56, American athlete, generally considered the greatest woman athlete of modern times, b. Port Arthur, Tex. At an early age Babe Didrik...

Gestalt

(Encyclopedia)Gestalt gəshtältˈ [key] [Ger.,=form], school of psychology that interprets phenomena as organized wholes rather than as aggregates of distinct parts, maintaining that the whole is greater than the ...

Colines, Simon de

(Encyclopedia)Colines, Simon de sēmôNˈ də kôlēnˈ [key], d. 1546, Parisian printer. He was associated with the elder Henri Estienne and continued his work. Colines used elegant roman and italic types and a Gr...

bicycle racing

(Encyclopedia)bicycle racing or cycling, an internationally popular sport conducted on closed courses or the open road. Track racing takes place at a velodrome, usually a banked 1,093.6 ft (.333 km) oval. Olympic m...