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laurel, in botany

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Sassafras, Sassafras albidum, a member of the laurel family laurel, common name for the Lauraceae, a family of forest trees and shrubs found mainly in tropical SE Asia but also abundant in tro...

yellow fever

(Encyclopedia)yellow fever, acute infectious disease endemic in tropical Africa and many areas of South and Central America. Yellow fever is caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mos...

scarab beetle

(Encyclopedia)scarab beetle or scarab, name for members of a large family of heavy-bodied, oval beetles (the Scarabaeidae), with about 30,000 species distributed throughout most of the world and over 1,200 in North...

sea turtle

(Encyclopedia)sea turtle, name for several species of large marine turtles found in tropical and subtropical oceans. These turtles are modified for life in the ocean by having flipperlike forelimbs without toes and...

shrimp

(Encyclopedia)shrimp, small marine decapod crustacean with 10 jointed legs on the thorax, well-developed swimmerets on the abdominal segments, and a body that is compressed laterally. Shrimp differ from their close...

Individual Retirement Account

(Encyclopedia)Individual Retirement Account (IRA), tax-sheltered retirement plan, originally created (1974) to assist individuals not covered by company pensions. Under the U.S. tax law of 1981, IRA provisions were...

Dawes Plan

(Encyclopedia)Dawes Plan, presented in 1924 by the committee headed (1923–24) by Charles G. Dawes to the Reparations Commission of the Allied nations. It was accepted the same year by Germany and the Allies. The ...

cycle

(Encyclopedia)cycle, in astronomy, period of time required for the recurrence of some celestial event. The length of a cycle may be measured relative to the sun or to the fixed stars (see sidereal time). A frequent...

characin

(Encyclopedia)characin –sĭd [key], common name for members of the Characidae, a large and diverse family comprising 700 species of freshwater fishes. The characins are related to the carp and the catfish. They a...

Guinea, archaic term for Africa's west coast

(Encyclopedia)Guinea gĭnˈē [key], an archaic term for the west coast of Africa. In its widest sense it has been applied to the region from Angola to Senegal. Parts of the region bore names originating in early c...