cereal grass of the Gramineae (Poaceae) family and of the genus Triticum and its edible grain, one of the oldest and most important of the cereal crops.
the part of the North American Great Plains where wheat is the dominant crop. The belt extends along a north-south axis for more than 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from central ...
principal crop-growing region of Western Australia, occupying about 60,000 square miles (160,000 square km) in the southwestern section of the state. Served by the Perth-Albany Railway, the crescent-shaped belt is ...
(genus Oenanthe), any of a group of 19 species of thrushes belonging to the family Turdidae. They resemble wagtails in having pied plumage and the tail-wagging habit (with body bobbing). ...
(genus Agropyron), any of a number of species of wheatlike grasses in the family Poaceae, found throughout the North Temperate Zone. The plants are perennials, 30 to 100 cm (about ...
city, seat (1867) of DuPage county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. It is a suburb of Chicago, located about 25 miles (40 km) west of downtown. The first settlers (1837) were Erastus ...
private, coeducational liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, U.S. Wheaton College began as a preparatory school, the Illinois Institute, built by Wesleyan Methodists in 1854. It became a college in ...
private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Norton, Massachusetts, U.S. It is a liberal arts college offering bachelor's degree programs in such areas as biological and physical sciences, computer science, ...
English physicist who popularized the Wheatstone bridge, a device that accurately measured electrical resistance and became widely used in laboratories.
basic machine component for amplifying force. In its earliest form it was probably used for raising weights or water buckets from wells. Its principle of operation is demonstrated by the ...
device for igniting the powder in a firearm such as a musket. It was developed in about 1515. The wheel lock struck a spark to ignite powder on the pan ...
highest point (13,161 feet [4,011 metres]) in New Mexico, U.S. The peak is located in Taos county, 70 miles (113 km) north-northeast of Santa Fe, in the Sangre de Cristo ...
physicist, the first American involved in the theoretical development of the atomic bomb. He also originated a novel approach to the unified field theory.
British archaeologist, noted for his discoveries in Great Britain and India and for his advancement of scientific technique in archaeology. He was also a great popularizer of his subject, particularly ...
19th vice president of the United States (1877-81) who, with Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes, took office by the decision of an Electoral Commission appointed to rule on contested electoral ...
American entomologist recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on ants and other social insects. Two of his works, Ants: Their Structure, Development, and Behavior (1910) and Social Life ...
city, seat of Ohio county, in the northern panhandle of West Virginia, U.S., on the Ohio River (there bridged to Martins Ferry, Bridgeport, and Bellaire, Ohio). The site was settled ...
any marine snail of the family Buccinidae (subclass Prosobranchia of the class Gastropoda), or a snail having a similar shell. Some are incorrectly called conchs. The sturdy shell of most ...
English philosopher and historian remembered both for his writings on ethics and for his work on the theory of induction, a philosophical analysis of particulars to arrive at a scientific ...
watery fraction that forms along with curd when milk coagulates. It contains the water-soluble constituents of milk and is essentially a 5 percent solution of lactose in water, with some ...
island, part of Island county, northwestern Washington, U.S., in Puget Sound. Approximately 40 miles (65 km) long, it is one of the largest offshore islands in the continental United States. ...
members of two opposing political parties or factions in England, particularly during the 18th century. Originally "Whig" and "Tory" were terms of abuse introduced in 1679 during the heated struggle ...
in U.S. history, major political party active in the period 1834-54 that espoused a program of national development but foundered on the rising tide of sectional antagonism. The Whig Party ...
glass with no utilitarian purpose, executed to satisfy the whim of the glassmaker. Such offhand exercises in skill are almost as old as glassmaking itself. Some of the earliest pieces ...
(Saxicola rubetra), Eurasian thrush named for its habitat: swampy meadows, called, in England, whins. This species, 13 centimetres (5 inches) long, one of the chat-thrush group (family Turdidae, order Passeriformes), ...
any of the 75 species of the order Uropygi (sometimes Thelyphonida) of the arthropod class Arachnida. They look like true scorpions, but the larger species have a whiplike telson, or ...
either of the two species of the Australian genus Psophodes, belonging to the songbird family Muscicapidae. They are named for the voice of the eastern whipbird (P. olivaceus): the male ...
injury to the cervical spine and its soft tissues caused by forceful flexion or extension of the neck, especially that occurring during an automobile accident. It may involve sprain, fracture, ...
hound breed developed in mid-19th-century England to chase rabbits for sport in an arena. The breed was developed from terriers and small English greyhounds; Italian greyhounds were later bred in ...
American pathologist whose discovery that raw liver fed to chronically bled dogs will reverse the effects of anemia led directly to successful liver treatment of pernicious anemia by the American ...
(Caprimulgus vociferus), nocturnal bird of North America belonging to the family Caprimulgidae (see caprimulgiform) and closely resembling the related common nightjar of Europe. It is named for its vigorous deliberate ...
any of certain worms of the genus Trichuris, class Nematoda (phylum Aschelminthes), especially T. trichiura, that are parasitic in the large intestine of man and other mammals. They are so ...
(foaled 1938), American racehorse (Thoroughbred) who in 1941 captured the U.S. Triple Crown-the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. A chestnut colt distinguished by an unusually long ...
any member of the approximately 700 species of the cosmopolitan insect family Gyrinidae (order Coleoptera). These beetles are usually seen in groups, spinning and whirling around on the surfaces of ...
rotary oceanic current, a large-scale eddy that is produced by the interaction of rising and falling tides. Similar currents that exhibit a central downdraft are termed vortexes and occur where ...
a small-diameter columnar vortex of rapidly swirling air. A broad spectrum of vortices occurs in the atmosphere, ranging in scale from small eddies that form in the lee of buildings ...
any of several distilled liquors made from a fermented mash of cereal grains and including Scotch, Irish, and Canadian whiskeys and the various whiskeys of the United States. Whiskey is ...
(1794), in American history, uprising that afforded the new U.S. government its first opportunity to establish federal authority by military means within state boundaries, as officials moved into western Pennsylvania ...
in U.S. history, group of whiskey distillers (dissolved in 1875) who conspired to defraud the federal government of taxes. Operating mainly in St. Louis, Mo., Milwaukee, Wis., and Chicago, Ill., ...
speech in which the vocal cords are held rigid, preventing the vibration that produces normal sounds. In whispering, voiceless sounds are produced as usual; but voiced sounds (e.g., vowels) are ...
trick-taking card game developed in England. The English national card game has passed through many phases of development, being first recorded as trump (1529), then ruff, ruff and honours, whisk ...
short flute having a stopped lower end and a flue that directs the player's breath from the mouth hole at the upper end against the edge of a hole cut ...
electromagnetic wave propagating through the atmosphere that occasionally is detected by a sensitive audio amplifier as a gliding high-to-low-frequency sound. Initially, whistlers last about half a second, and they may ...
American-born artist noted for his paintings of nocturnal London, for his striking and stylistically advanced full-length portraits, and for his brilliant etchings and lithographs. An articulate theorist about art, he ...
(Dendrocygna), any of eight species of long-legged and long-necked ducks that utter sibilant cries and may make whirring wing sounds in flight; these distinctive ducks are separated from other members ...
Anglican priest and mathematician who sought to harmonize religion and science, and who is remembered for reviving in England the heretical views of Arianism.
solicitor, politician, and businessman who served twice as prime minister of New Zealand (1863-64; 1882-83). He was an advocate of British annexation in the Pacific and of the confiscation of ...
any of a series of literary awards given to writers resident in the United Kingdom and Ireland for books published there in the previous year. Established in 1971 and sponsored ...
town, borough of Scarborough, administrative county of North Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, England. The old North Sea port town is clustered on the east side of the harbour at ...
a meeting held by the Christian Church of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria in 663/664 to decide whether to follow Celtic or Roman usages. It marked a vital turning point ...
the anti-Asian immigration policy initiated by the new Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. It reflected a long-standing and unifying sentiment of the various Australian colonies and remained a fundamental government ...
any of several species of ornamental and timber trees of the genus Betula, in the family Betulaceae. The trees are native to cool regions of the Northern Hemisphere and have ...
any of several members of the cosmopolitan insect family Pieridae (order Lepidoptera), which also includes the sulfur and orange-tip butterflies and contains more than 1,000 species. Adult white butterflies have ...
in the lumber trade, any American arborvitae (q.v.), some species of false cypress (q.v.), and McNab cypress, incense cedar (q.v.), and California juniper. Nonconiferous trees that are called white cedar ...
small aquarium fish of the carp family, Cyprinidae, native to the White Cloud Mountains (Pai-yun Shan) of Kwangtung province, China. The white cloud is a slender, hardy fish, about 4 ...
any of a class of faint stars representing the endpoint of the evolution of intermediate- and low-mass stars. White dwarf stars, so called because of the white colour of the ...
a Roman Catholic international missionary society of priests and brothers whose sole field of activity is Africa. It was founded in North Africa in 1868 by the archbishop of Algiers, ...
the official office and residence of the president of the United States at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C. The White House and its landscaped grounds occupy 18 acres ...
island in the Bay of Plenty, 43 miles (69 km) west of Cape Runaway, eastern North Island, New Zealand. An active volcano, it is the top of a submarine vent ...
(1796-1804), large-scale uprising in the mountainous regions of central China that contributed to the decline of the Ch'ing dynasty. The White Lotus society (Pai-lien chiao) was a religious cult already ...
segment of the Appalachian Mountains, U.S., extending for 87 miles (140 km) across north-central New Hampshire and slightly into western Maine. They contain the highest elevations in the northeastern United ...
