Search

Search results

Displaying 441 - 450

sailfish

(Encyclopedia) sailfish, common name for a marine game and food fish, genus Istiophorus, belonging to the family Istiophoridae and related to the marlin. It is named for its high, wide dorsal fin (or…

Pisistratus

(Encyclopedia) PisistratusPisistratuspīsĭsˈtrətəs [key], 605?–527 b.c., Greek statesman, tyrant of Athens. His power was founded on the cohesion of the rural citizens, whom he consolidated with…

straw

(Encyclopedia) straw, dried stalks of threshed grains, especially wheat, barley, oats, and rye. It has been used from antiquity for bedding, covering floors, and thatching roofs, as fodder and litter…

southern tick-associated rash illness

(Encyclopedia) southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) or Masters disease, illness characterized by a Lyme disease–like rash that is associated with bite from the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma…

South Georgia

(Encyclopedia) South Georgia, island, c.1,450 sq mi (3,760 sq km), S Atlantic Ocean, c.1,200 mi (1,930 km) E of Cape Horn. A dependency of the Falkland Islands from 1908 to 1985 (along with the South…

scallop

(Encyclopedia) scallop or pecten, marine bivalve mollusk. Like its close relative the oyster, the scallop has no siphons, the mantle being completely open, but it differs from other mollusks in that…

Sarton, May

(Encyclopedia) Sarton, May, 1912–95, American poet and novelist, b. Wondelgem, Belgium. Her father was the science historian George Sarton; the family moved to the United States in 1916. Although…

Priestley, J. B.

(Encyclopedia) Priestley, J. B. (John Boynton Priestley), 1894–1984, English author. An extraordinarily prolific writer, Priestley worked in a variety of genres. He first wrote literary criticism as…

pass

(Encyclopedia) pass, opening or way by which a natural or artificial barrier can be crossed. The term pass is usually applied to a relatively narrow passage through a mountainous region. A pass, like…

tarweed

(Encyclopedia) tarweed, any of several related resinous herbs (chiefly species of Hemizonia and Madia) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), having strongly scented and sticky herbage. Most North…