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Scorpius ... Scrophulariaceae

Scorpius: (Latin: "Scorpion"), in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying between Libra and Sagittarius, at about 16 hours 30 minutes right ascension (the coordinate on the celestial sphere analogous to longitude on the ...
Scorpius X-1: (catalog number Sco X-1), brightest X-ray source in the sky, the first such object discovered in the direction of the constellation Scorpius. Detected in 1962, its X-radiation is not only ...
Scorsese, Martin: American filmmaker known for his harsh, often violent depictions of American culture.
Scorza, Manuel: Peruvian novelist, poet, and political activist who interwove mythic and fantastic elements with social realism in his depictions of the Indians' struggles against oppression and exploitation.
scorzalite: phosphate mineral similar to lazulite (q.v.).
Scot: any member of an ancient Gaelic-speaking people of northern Ireland who settled in Scotland sometime in the 5th century AD. Originally (until the 10th century) "Scotia" denoted Ireland, and the ...
Scot, Michael: Scottish scholar and mathematician whose translations of Aristotle from Arabic and Hebrew into Latin are a landmark in the reception of that philosopher in western Europe.
Scotch whisky: any whiskey made primarily of malted barley. See whiskey.
scoter: (genus Melanitta), any of three species of sea duck of the family Anatidae. Within the divisions of true duck species, the scoter belongs in the diving duck group. Scoters are ...
Scotia Arc: island arc system consisting of the submarine Scotia Ridge, mountainous south Atlantic islands (clockwise from the north, the South Georgia, South Sandwich, and South Orkney islands), and the Antarctic Peninsula. ...
Scotia Sea: marine region, part of the South Atlantic Ocean, about 350,000 square miles (more than 900,000 square km) in area. It lies within a complex and tectonically active marine basin enclosed ...
Scotland: most northerly of the four parts of the United Kingdom, occupying about one-third of the island of Great Britain. The name Scotland derives from the Latin Scotia, ...
Scotland Yard: the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police and, by association, a name often used to denote that force. It is located south of St. James's Park in the borough of ...
Scotland, Church of: national church in Scotland, which accepted the Presbyterian faith during the 16th-century Reformation.
Scots Confession: first confession of faith of the Scottish Reformed Church, written primarily by John Knox and adopted by the Scottish Parliament in 1560. It was a moderate Calvinist statement of faith ...
Scots Gaelic language: a member of the Goidelic group of Celtic languages, spoken along the northwest coast of Scotland and in the Hebrides islands. Australia, the United States, and Canada (particularly Nova Scotia) ...
Scots language: the historic language of the people of Lowland Scotland, and one closely related to English. The word Lallans, which was originated by the Scottish poet Robert Burns, is usually used ...
Scotsman, The: morning daily newspaper published in Edinburgh, widely influential in Scotland and long considered a leading exemplar of responsible journalism.
Scott, Alexander: Scottish lyricist who is regarded as one of the last of the makaris (or poets) of the 16th century, because of his skill in handling the old Scottish metrical forms.
Scott, Barbara Ann: Canadian figure skater and first citizen of a nation outside Europe to win a world championship in skating (1947).
Scott, Charles Prestwich: eminent British journalist who edited the Manchester Guardian (known as The Guardian since 1959) for 57 years.
Scott, Duncan Campbell: Canadian regionalist poet who wrote of the untamed aspects of nature in the northern wilderness and life in the Indian territories.
Scott, Dunkinfield Henry: English paleobotanist and leading authority of his time on the structure of fossil plants.
Scott, Francis Reginald: member of the Montreal group of poets in the 1920s and an influential promoter of the cause of Canadian poetry.
Scott, George C.: American actor whose dynamic presence and raspy voice suited him to a variety of intense roles during his 40-year film career.
Scott, Paul: British novelist known for his chronicling of the decline of the British occupation of India, most fully realized in his series of novels known as The Raj Quartet (filmed for ...
Scott, Ridley: British film director whose films were acclaimed at the turn of the 21st century for their visual style and rich details.
Scott, Robert Falcon: British naval officer and explorer who led the famed, ill-fated second expedition to reach the South Pole (1910-13).
Scott, Sheila: British aviator who broke more than 100 light-aircraft records between 1965 and 1972 and was the first British pilot to fly solo around the world.
Scott, Sir George Gilbert: English architect, one of the most successful and prolific exponents of the Gothic Revival style during the Victorian period.
Scott, Sir Giles Gilbert: English architect who designed numerous public buildings in the eclectic style of simplified historical modes often termed 20th-century traditionalism.
Scott, Sir Peter Markham: British conservationist, artist, and founder of both the Severn Wildfowl Trust (1946; renamed the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) and the World Wildlife Fund (1961; renamed the World Wide Fund for ...
Scott, Sir Walter, 1st Baronet: Scottish novelist, poet, historian, and biographer who is often considered both the inventor and the greatest practitioner of the historical novel.
Scott, Winfield: American army officer who held the rank of general in three wars and was the unsuccessful Whig candidate for president in 1852. He was the foremost American military figure between ...
Scottish Borders: council area, southeastern Scotland, its location along the English border roughly coinciding with the drainage basin of the River Tweed. Its rounded hills and undulating plateaus-including the Lammermuir Hills, the ...
Scottish deerhound: dog breed called the "royal dog of Scotland," known since the 16th century. It was once the exclusive property of the Scots nobility, who prized it as a hunter of ...
Scottish law: the legal practices and institutions of Scotland. At the union of the parliaments of England and Scotland in 1707, the legal systems of the two countries were very dissimilar. Scotland, ...
Scottish law: the legal practices and institutions of Scotland.
Scottish literature: a body of writing that includes works in Scottish Gaelic, Lowland Scottish (or Lallans), standard English employed by Scots, and various combinations of English and Scottish languages.
Scottish National Dictionary: dictionary published in Edinburgh and containing all Scottish words known to be in use since about 1700. It is designed partly on regional lines and partly on historical principles.
Scottish National Party: nationalist political party that has sought to make Scotland an independent state within the European Union (EU).
Scottish National Zoological Park and Carnegie Aquarium: collection of terrestrial and aquatic animals founded in 1913 by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland in Edinburgh. More than 1,190 specimens of over 150 species are exhibited on the ...
Scottish terrier: short-legged terrier breed often held by its admirers to be the oldest of the Highland terriers, although this contention has not been proved. A small, squat, bewhiskered dog with wide-set, ...
Scotts Bluff National Monument: geologic formation and natural area in Scotts Bluff county, western Nebraska, U.S. It lies along the North Platte River, opposite the city of Scottsbluff. The 5-square-mile (13-square-km) area of the ...
Scottsboro: city, seat (1859) of Jackson county, northeastern Alabama, U.S. It is situated near the Tennessee River at the edge of the Cumberland Plateau, about 40 miles (65 km) east of ...
Scottsboro case: major U.S. civil rights controversy of the 1930s surrounding the prosecution in Scottsboro, Ala., of nine black youths charged with the rape of two white women. The nine, after nearly ...
Scottsdale: city, Maricopa county, residential-resort suburb of Phoenix, south-central Arizona, U.S. Its business district (in a Western frontier motif) is an arts and crafts centre and features Arizona-oriented fashions alongside the ...
Scrabble: board-and-tile game in which two to four players compete in forming words with lettered tiles on a 225-square board; words spelled out by letters on the tiles interlock like words ...
Scranton: city, seat (1878) of Lackawanna county, northeastern Pennsylvania, U.S., in the Lackawanna River valley, on the western fringes of the Pocono Mountains; it is the centre of an urbanized industrial ...
scrap metal: used metals that are an important source of industrial metals and alloys, particularly in the production of steel, copper, lead, aluminum, and zinc. Smaller amounts of tin, nickel, magnesium, and ...
scraper: in engineering, machine for moving earth over short distances (up to about two miles) over relatively smooth areas. Either self-propelled or towed, it consists of a wagon with a gate ...
scraper: in music, percussion instrument consisting of a serrated surface that is rasped with a stick. Known since the Stone Age, it is often associated with magical powers and ritual, and ...
scrapie: fatal neurodegenerative disease of sheep and, less often, goats. Scrapie has existed in Europe for more than 200 years and has been endemic in British sheep, particularly the Suffolk breed, ...
scratchboard: a technique used by commercial artists and illustrators to make drawings that can easily be reproduced and that closely resemble either wood engravings or woodcuts. Introduced in the 19th century, ...
screamer: any of three species of South American waterfowl constituting the family Anhimidae (order Anseriformes). The group derives its name from its raucous, far-carrying cry.
screech owl: any of numerous New World owls of the genus Otus, typical owls of the family Strigidae. Old World species of Otus are known as scops owls. Members of both groups ...
screw: in machine construction, a usually circular cylindrical member with a continuous helical rib, used either as a fastener or as a force and motion modifier.
screw moss: any member of the moss genus Tortula (order Bryales), which form yellow-green or reddish-brown cushions on walls, soil, rocks, trees, and sand dunes in the Northern Hemisphere. About 25 species ...
screwdriver: tool, usually hand-operated, for turning screws with slotted heads. For screws with one straight diametral slot cut across the head, standard screwdrivers with flat blade tips and in a variety ...
Scriabin, Aleksandr: Russian composer of piano and orchestral music noted for its unusual harmonies through which the composer sought to explore musical symbolism.
Scribe, Eugene: French dramatist whose works dominated the Parisian stage for more than 30 years.
Scriblerus Club: 18th-century British literary club whose founding members were the brilliant Tory wits Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Thomas Parnell, and John Arbuthnot. Its purpose was to ridicule pretentious erudition ...
Scribner Family: family of American publishers whose firm, founded in 1846 and named Charles Scribner's Sons from 1878, issued books and several periodicals.
scrimshaw: the decoration of bone or ivory objects, such as whale's teeth or walrus tusks, with fanciful designs. The designs, executed by whale fishermen of American and Anglo-American origin, were carved ...
Scripps Canyon: shallow submarine canyon in the Pacific off La Jolla, Calif.; it is the best studied of all submarine canyons by virtue of its proximity to Scripps Institution of Oceanography, for ...
Scripps, Edward Willis: newspaper publisher who, after founding his first paper in 1878, organized the first major chain of newspapers in the United States and later (1907) established the United Press.
Scripps, Ellen Browning: English-born American journalist, publisher, and philanthropist whose personal fortune, accrued from investments in her family's newspaper enterprises, allowed her to make considerable contributions to educational, public recreational, and medical institutions.
script: in motion pictures, the written text of a film. The nature of scripts varies from those that give only a brief outline of the action to detailed shooting scripts, in ...
scriptorium: writing room set aside in monastic communities for the use of scribes engaged in copying manuscripts. Scriptoria were an important feature of the Middle Ages, most characteristically of Benedictine establishments ...
scripture: the revered texts, or Holy Writ, of the world's religions. Scriptures comprise a large part of the literature of the world. They vary greatly in form, volume, age, and degree ...
scrofula: formerly tuberculosis, the terms "scrofulous," "strumous," and "tuberculous" being nearly interchangeable in the past, before the real nature of the disease was understood. The particular characteristics associated with scrofula have ...
Scroggs, Sir William: controversial lord chief justice of England (1678-81), who presided over the trials of those accused of complicity in the Popish Plot of 1678 to put the Roman Catholic James, duke ...
scroll painting: art form practiced primarily in East Asia. The two dominant types may be illustrated by the Chinese landscape scroll, which is that culture's greatest contribution to the history of painting, ...
scrollwork: in architecture and furniture design, use of curved elements suggesting such shapes as a sea wave, a vine, or a scroll of paper partly unrolled. In Classical architecture the main ...
Scrope, George Julius Poulett: English geologist and political economist whose volcanic studies helped depose the Neptunist theory that all the world's rocks were formed by sedimentation from the oceans. Originally surnamed Thomson, he assumed ...
Scrophulariaceae: the figwort or snapdragon family of flowering plants, one of 12 in the figwort order (Scrophulariales), containing about 190 genera and 4,000 species with worldwide distribution. It contains no crop ...