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Trevisa, John of

(Encyclopedia)Trevisa, John of trəvēˈsə [key], c.1326–c.1402, English writer. He was the vicar of Berkeley. In 1387 he translated into English Ranulph Higden's Polychronicon, a history of the world, and in 13...

Barr, Alfred Hamilton, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Barr, Alfred Hamilton, Jr., 1902–81, American art historian, b. Detroit. Barr taught art history at several colleges and was the first director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York City. He organiz...

Planudes Maximus

(Encyclopedia)Planudes Maximus pləno͞oˈdēz măkˈsĭməs [key] or Maximus Planudes, c.1260–c.1330, Byzantine scholar, an exceptionally learned monk. His edition of the Greek Anthology was long the standard. H...

composition board

(Encyclopedia)composition board, wood product produced in the form of a board or sheet, formed of cellulose fibers or particles derived from wood or other sources, and used principally as a building material. The o...

Ashkin, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Ashkin, Arthur, 1922–2020, American physicist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Ph.D. Cornell, 1952. Ashkin worked for four decades at Bell Laboratories, retiring in 1992. Ashkin researched microwaves, nonlinear ...

ACE inhibitor

(Encyclopedia)ACE inhibitor ănˌjēōtĕnˈsĭn [key], drug used to reduce elevated blood pressure (see hypertension), to treat congestive heart failure, and to alleviate strain on hea...

bladder, urinary

(Encyclopedia)bladder, urinary, muscular sac located in the pelvis that stores urine and contracts to expel it from the body. Urine enters the bladder from the kidneys through the ureters and is discharged from the...

chronometer

(Encyclopedia)chronometer krənŏmˈətər [key], instrument for keeping highly accurate time, used especially in navigation. Before the advent of radio time signals it was the only device that provided the time ac...

lard

(Encyclopedia)lard, hog's fat melted and strained from the tissues, an important byproduct of the meatpacking industry. The highest grade, leaf lard, is from the fat around the kidneys; the next best is from the ba...

sleet

(Encyclopedia)sleet, precipitation of small, partially melted grains of ice. As raindrops fall from clouds, they pass through layers of air at different temperatures. If they pass through a layer with a temperature...