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parole

(Encyclopedia) paroleparolepərōlˈ [key], in criminal law, release from prison of a convict before the expiration of his term on condition that his activities be restricted and that he report…

Ptolemy XII

(Encyclopedia) Ptolemy XII (Ptolemy Auletes)Ptolemy XIItŏlˈəmē [key]Ptolemy XIIôlēˈtēz [key], d. 51 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (80–58 b.c., 55–51 b.c.), of the Macedonian dynasty, illegitimate son…

Rich, Adrienne

(Encyclopedia) Rich, Adrienne, 1929–2012, American poet, b. Baltimore, grad. Radcliffe, 1951. From the 1970s her exquisitely wrought verse became looser and more personal as her works increasingly…

taboo

(Encyclopedia) taboo or tabutabooboth: tăb&oomacr;ˈ, tə– [key], prohibition of an act or the use of an object or word under pain of punishment. Originally a Polynesian word, taboo can apply to…

tachinid fly

(Encyclopedia) tachinid flytachinid flytăkˈənĭd [key], common name for any of the flies of the family Tachinidae, which parasitize caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, and other insects. Tachinid…

magnetism

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Lines of induction around a single bar magnet and between opposite poles of different magnets magnetism, force of attraction or repulsion between various substances, especially…

geode

(Encyclopedia) geodegeodejēˈōd [key], hollow, globular rock nodule ranging in diameter from 1 to 12 in. (2.54–30.5 cm) or more. Most geodes are partly filled with mineral matter; they have a thin…

Fowles, John

(Encyclopedia) Fowles, John, 1926–2005, English writer, b. Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, grad. Oxford, 1950. A complex, cerebral writer and a superb storyteller, Fowles was interested in manipulating the…

green flash

(Encyclopedia) green flash or emerald flash, a refractive phenomenon of the atmosphere where the top edge of the setting (or, less frequently, rising) sun will momentarily turn emerald green. The…

apocalypse

(Encyclopedia) apocalypseapocalypseəpŏkˈəlĭps [key] [Gr.,=uncovering], genre represented in early Jewish and in Christian literature in which the secrets of the heavenly world or of the world to come…