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Graf, Steffi

(Encyclopedia)Graf, Steffi gräf, grăf [key], 1969–, German tennis player. A powerful baseliner, she drew international attention by winning the 1984 Olympic demonstration event. Graf won her first major title, ...

snowshoes

(Encyclopedia)snowshoes, footgear enabling the wearer to walk on soft snow without sinking. A snowshoe consists of a light frame of tough wood or aluminum, roughly the shape of a large tennis racket, which is strun...

badminton

(Encyclopedia)badminton bădˈmĭntən [key], game played by volleying a shuttlecock (called a “bird”)—a small, cork hemisphere to which feathers are attached—over a net. Light, gut-strung rackets are used....

Richmond, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Richmond. 1 City (1990 pop. 87,425), Contra Costa co., W Calif., on San Pablo Bay, an inlet of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1905. It is a deepwater commercial port and an industrial center with oil refiner...

repetitive stress injury

(Encyclopedia)repetitive stress injury or repetitive strain injury (RSI), injury caused by repeated movement of a particular part of the body. Often seen in workers whose physical routine is unvaried, RSI has becom...

Agassi, Andre Kirk

(Encyclopedia)Agassi, Andre Kirk änˈdrā, ăgˈəsē [key], 1970–, American tennis player, b. Las Vegas, Nev. Trained by his Armenian immigrant father, he turned professional in 1986. By 1988 he had won a half ...

nominalism

(Encyclopedia)nominalism, in philosophy, a theory of the relation between universals and particulars. Nominalism gained its name in the Middle Ages, when it was contrasted with realism. The problem arises because i...

Popes of the Roman Catholic Church (table)

(Encyclopedia)Popes of the Roman Catholic ChurchIn the following list, the date of election, rather than of consecration, is given. Before St. Victor I (189), dates may err by one year. Antipopes—i.e., those men...

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