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Clark, William

(Encyclopedia)Clark, William, 1770–1838, American explorer, one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark expedition, b. Caroline co., Va.; brother of George Rogers Clark. He was an army officer (1792–96), serving ...

soap

(Encyclopedia)soap, a cleansing agent. It cleanses by lowering the surface tension of water, by emulsifying grease, and by absorbing dirt into the foam. Ancient peoples are believed to have employed wood ashes and ...

Ecclesiastes

(Encyclopedia)Ecclesiastes ēklēˌzēăsˈtēz [key], book of the Bible, the name of which is a latinized derivation of the Hebrew Qohelet [the Preacher]. Although traditionally ascribed to Solomon (who is identif...

Perelman, S. J.

(Encyclopedia)Perelman, S. J. (Sidney Joseph Perelman) pĕrˈəlmən [key], 1904–79, American comic writer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He entered the magazine world as a cartoonist for a New York weekly, soon turning from...

bow and arrow

(Encyclopedia)bow and arrow, weapon consisting of two parts; the bow is made of a strip of flexible material, such as wood, with a cord linking the two ends of the strip to form a tension from which is propelled th...

Prince Albert

(Encyclopedia)Prince Albert, city (1991 pop. 34,181), central Sask., Canada, on the North Saskatchewan River. Prince Albert is a commercial and distribution center for a lumbering, gold- and uranium-mining, and mix...

Napa

(Encyclopedia)Napa năpˈə [key], city (1990 pop. 61,842), seat of Napa co., W Calif., on the Napa River; inc. 1872. There are wineries and factories that produce medical and electronic equipment, beverages, appar...

Pippin, Horace

(Encyclopedia)Pippin, Horace, 1888–1946, American primitive painter, b. West Chester, Pa. He worked as a porter, peddler, and warehouseman and never studied art. He was severely wounded in World War I. The naive ...

distillation

(Encyclopedia)distillation, process used to separate the substances composing a mixture. It involves a change of state, as of liquid to gas, and subsequent condensation. The process was probably first used in the p...

Esther

(Encyclopedia)Esther ĕsˈtər [key], book of the Bible. It is the tale of the beautiful Jewish woman Esther [Heb.,= Hadassah], who is chosen as queen by the Persian King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or II) after he has rep...
 

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