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Rooke, Sir George

(Encyclopedia) Rooke, Sir GeorgeRooke, Sir Georger&oobreve;k [key], 1650–1709, English admiral. In the War of the Grand Alliance he defeated a French fleet under the comte de Tourville in the…

Shovell, Sir Clowdisley

(Encyclopedia) Shovell, Sir Clowdisley, or Sir Cloudesley ShovelShovell, Sir Clowdisley,kloudzˈlē shŭvˈəl [key], 1650–1707, English admiral. In the War of the Grand Alliance he burned enemy ships at…

Brewer's: Rook

(A). A cheat. “To rook,” to cheat; “to rook a pigeon,” to fleece a greenhorn. Sometimes it simply means, to win from another at a game of chance or skill. (See Rookery.) “`My Lord Marquis…

Sierra Leone

Infoplease has everything you need to know about Sierra Leone. Check out our country profile, full of essential information about Sierra Leone's geography, history, government, economy, population,…

Brewer's: Bully-rook

A blustering cheat. Like bully, it is sometimes used without any offensive meaning. Thus the Host, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, addresses Sir John Falstaff, Ford, and Page, etc., as…

Brewer's: Winged Rooks

Outwitted sharpers. A rook is a sharper, and a rookery the place of resort for sharpers. A rook is the opposite of a pigeon; a rook cheats, a pigeon is…

Brewer's: Rook's Hill

(Lavant, Chichester), celebrated for the local tradition that the golden calf of Aaron is buried there. Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894RookeryRook A B C…

León, region and former kingdom, Spain

(Encyclopedia) LeónLeónlā-ōnˈ [key], historic region and former kingdom, NW Spain, E of Portugal and Galicia, now part of Castile–León. It includes the provinces of León, Salamanca, and Zamora, named…

León, city, Spain

(Encyclopedia) León, city (1990 pop. 137,758), capital of León prov., NW Spain, in Castile and León, at the foot of the Cantabrian Mts. and at the confluence of the Bernesga and Torio rivers. It is…

Alfonso V, Spanish king of León

(Encyclopedia) Alfonso V (Alfonso the Noble), 994?–1027, Spanish king of León (999–1027). While he was still a minor, the Moorish ruler al-Mansur died, and the Spanish court recovered the city of…