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amethyst

(Encyclopedia)amethyst ămˈəthĭst [key] [Gr.,=non-drunkenness], variety of quartz, violet to purple in color, used as a gem. It is the most highly valued of the semiprecious quartzes. It is associated with a num...

lake dwelling

(Encyclopedia)lake dwelling, prehistoric habitation built over the shallow waters of a lake shore or a marsh, usually erected on pile-supported platforms, but sometimes on artificial islands or mounds. Such a site ...

Barron, Clarence Walker

(Encyclopedia)Barron, Clarence Walker bârˈən [key], 1855–1928, American financial editor, b. Boston. He worked on the Boston Daily News, then on the Evening Transcript, and in 1887 founded the Boston News Bure...

ivory

(Encyclopedia)ivory, type of dentin present only in the tusks of the elephant. Ivory historically has been obtained mainly from Africa, where elephant tusks are larger than they are in Asia, the second major source...

Enciso, Martín Fernández de

(Encyclopedia)Enciso, Martín Fernández de märtēnˈ fĕrnänˈdāth dā ĕnthēˈsō [key], fl. 1509–19, Spanish conquistador and geographer. Commanding the supply ship for the colony planted (1509) near Carta...

water, desalination of

(Encyclopedia)water, desalination of, process of removing soluble salts from water to render it suitable for drinking, irrigation, or industrial uses. The principal methods used for desalination include distillatio...

pacemaker, artificial

(Encyclopedia)pacemaker, artificial, device used to stimulate a rhythmic heartbeat by means of electrical impulses. Implanted in the body when the heart's own electrical conduction system (natural pacemaker) does n...

Deaton, Angus Stewart

(Encyclopedia)Deaton, Angus Stewart, 1945–, British-American economist, b. Edinburgh, Scotland, Ph.D Cambridge, 1974. He was a professor of econometrics at the Univ. of Bristol, England, from 1976 to 1983. In 198...

Clarksburg

(Encyclopedia)Clarksburg, city (2020 pop. 14,929), seat of Harrison co., N central W.Va., at the confluence of Elk Creek and the West Fork of the Monongahela River; i...

dice, in games and gambling

(Encyclopedia)dice [plural of die], small cubes used in games. They are usually made of ivory, bone, wood, plastic, or similar materials. The six sides are numbered by dots from 1 to 6, so placed that the sum of th...