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corn borer

(Encyclopedia)corn borer or European corn borer, common name for the larva of a moth of the family Pyralidae, introduced from S Europe into the Boston area in 1917. The corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, has steadily ...

Gothic romance

(Encyclopedia)Gothic romance, type of novel that flourished in the late 18th and early 19th cent. in England. Gothic romances were mysteries, often involving the supernatural and heavily tinged with horror, and the...

Guadalupe Hidalgo

(Encyclopedia)Guadalupe Hidalgo gwäᵺälo͞oˈpā ēdälˈgō, wä– [key], shrine, central Mexico, in the Federal District. The basilica of Guadalupe containing the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (feast: Dec. ...

tar and pitch

(Encyclopedia)tar and pitch, viscous, dark-brown to black substances obtained by the destructive distillation of coal, wood, petroleum, peat, and certain other organic materials. The heating or partial burning of w...

terbium

(Encyclopedia)terbium tûrˈbēəm [key] [from Ytterby, a village in Sweden], metallic chemical element; symbol Tb; at. no. 65; at. wt. 158.92535; m.p. 1,356℃; b.p. 3,123℃; sp. gr. about 8.25; valence +3 or +4....

Walker, Alice

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Alice, 1944–, African-American novelist and poet, b. Eatonon, Ga. The daughter of sharecroppers, she studied at Spelman College (1961–63) and Sarah Lawrence College (B.A., 1965). She bring...

water beetle

(Encyclopedia)water beetle, name for aquatic beetles of several families. They should not be confused with water bugs, which are true bugs (order Hemiptera). The predaceous diving beetles (family Dytiscidae) are a ...

bread

(Encyclopedia)bread, food made from grains that have been ground into flour or meal, moistened and kneaded into a dough, and then baked. Many types of bread are leavened, usually with yeast, which induces fermentat...

carp

(Encyclopedia)carp, hardy freshwater fish, Cyprinus carpio, the largest member of the minnow family; it is also known as the common carp. A native of Black, Caspian, and Aral sea basins of Eurasia, the carp has bee...

skin cancer

(Encyclopedia)skin cancer, malignant tumor of the skin. The most common types of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Rarer forms include mycosis fungoides (a type of lymphom...
 

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