alto

title: Alto

text: The word alto can mean: someone who sings lower than a soprano. Usually females with lower voices are called contraltos. A male alto is a man who sings in a special way called falsetto. In England male altos sing in church and cathedral choirs. In some countries like Germany it is tradition to have boy altos in cathedral choirs. These will probably be boys whose voices will soon be breaking and are starting to get lower. One of the most famous contraltos was Kathleen Ferrier. There are not so many female singers who call themselves contraltos these days. It has become more fashionable to be a mezzo-soprano. It is partly because it has become fashionable to use men for the alto parts in music by Bach and other Baroque composers, like it would have been performed in those days. Operatic roles which need a contralto include Lucretia in Britten's Rape of Lucretia and Erda in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. The word alto can also mean: the second line down in 4 part choir music. In old music the alto line was written in a special clef called the “alto clef”, which is the same as the “viola clef” (a C clef in which the middle line is middle C).


areola

title: Breast

text: The breast is an organ on the mid to upper chest area. It is just below the shoulders near the center of the upper chest region of humans and other primates. Humans have two breasts. Both boys and girls have breasts at birth. During puberty, the breasts on women grow larger and more visible. The breasts have glands that produce milk. Breastfeeding is when a mother feeds her baby with milk from her breasts. Men also have breasts. They are built the same way as those of women, but are usually smaller, Men cannot use their breasts for breastfeeding. Their breasts will usually not produce milk, but might become larger and produce milk during some diseases or with some hormonal medical treatments.

isa: organ


basilica

title: Basilica

text: A basilica is a large, important church. The word can also be used for an Ancient Roman building that was used for law and meetings. The word "basilica" is Latin which was taken from the Greek "Basiliké Stoà". Nowadays the word is used in three ways: * A Roman Catholic church that has been given the right to use that name, by the Pope. Only some large important churches have this right. * An Ancient Roman basilica * People who write about architecture often use the word "basilica" to mean a building that is shaped like an Ancient Roman basilica.


beef

title: Beef

text: Beef is a type of meat that comes from cattle. Beef can be cooked in many ways; cuts are usually used for steak, which can be cooked to many levels of doneness. Trimmings are usually ground or minced, like most hamburgers. Beef has protein, iron, and vitamin B12. High consumption of beef or other kinds of meat is linked to a higher risk of colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease, more so when processed. Beef has a high impact on the environment and is a main cause of deforestation. Beef makes the most greenhouse gasses of any farmed product. Beef is very popular in Argentina, where it is a national dish and icon.

isa: meat


cartoon

title: Cartoon

text: A cartoon is a type of visual art that is usually drawn based on real things. Cartoons are sometimes animated. The word cartoon has meant a lot of different things but now it means but the either: an image or series of images created to be funny or a film with Illustration s that are animated. Someone who creates the first kind of cartoon is called a cartoonist. Someone who makes the second kind of cartoon is sometimes called a cartoonist but is also called an animator. The concept characteristically originated in the Middle Ages, and first described a preparatory drawing for a piece of art, such as a painting, fresco, tapestry, or stained glass window. In the 19th century, beginning in Punch magazine in 1843, cartoon came to refer – ironically at first – to humorous artworks in magazines and newspapers. Then it also was used for political cartoons and comic strips. When the medium begins to be developed, in the early 20th century, it began to refer to animated films that resembled print cartoons.

isa: art


descendant

title: Descendants

text: Descendants is a 2015 American musical fantasy television movie. It was directed and choreographed by Kenny Ortega. The movie stars Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, and Cameron Boyce. It is about the heroes and villains of Disney animated movies. The movie tells the story of the children of villains Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), The Evil Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Jafar (Aladdin), and Cruella de Vil (One Hundred and One Dalmatians). Their children are Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos. The children are given a chance to be with the heroes at Auradon Prep outside their island prison, The Isle of the Lost. Maleficent instructs Mal to steal the Fairy Godmother's magic wand and free their parents from captivity. However, they instead adjust to their new life and learn to be good. Mal falls in love with Ben, the son of King Beast and Queen Belle (Beauty and the Beast). The movie debuted on July 31, 2015, as a Disney Channel Original Movie, to positive reviews and 6.6 million viewers. The movie also stars Mitchell Hope, Melanie Paxson, Brenna D'Amico, Sarah Jeffery, Zachary Gibson, Jedidiah Goodacre, Dianne Doan, Dan Payne, Keegan Connor Tracy, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Maz Jobrani, Kathy Najimy, and Kristin Chenoweth. The movie is the first installment in the Descendants franchise. It was spun off into a CGI animated short-form series titled Descendants: Wicked World. Three sequels to the movie were made. The first sequel was Descendants 2, which premiered on July 21, 2017. The second sequel was Descendants 3, which premiered on August 2, 2019, and The third sequel was Descendants: The Rise Of Red, which premiered on July 12, 2024


diode

title: Diode

text: A diode is an electronic component with two electrodes (connectors) that allows electricity to go through it in one direction and not the other direction. Diodes can be used to turn alternating current into direct current; One way to do this is called a diode bridge. They are used in power supplies and sometimes to decode AM radio signals (like in a crystal radio). Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are a type of diode that produce light. Today, the most common diodes are made from semiconductor materials such as silicon or sometimes germanium.

isa: component


discipline

title: Discipline

text: Discipline is an important idea in organizing human action, including in the family and in work. It is related to the word disciple. To discipline a child is to punish the child for bad behavior. Spanking is or was considered a method of child discipline. Self-discipline is controlling your own actions. Military discipline is training people to obey rules and keep order. A disciplined soldier is one who can act even while afraid for his life. A disciplined person is one who does what must be done to achieve his goals, even if it is difficult.

isa: idea


disgust

title: Disgust

text: Disgust is an emotion. People feel it when they see, touch, hear, or taste something that they think is nasty or repulsive. It is also caused by scorn. For example, when one finds something dirty or not fit to eat. Levels of disgust vary based on cultural, religious, and personal backgrounds/experiences. Disgust can be deliberate as someone can do something on purpose to create this emotion.

isa: emotion


distance

title: Distance

text: Distance is how far one thing is from another thing. It is also a measure of the space between two things. It can be measured along any path. Thus, someone who goes around in a circle has traveled a distance, even though his position has not changed. In geometry, the distance between two points A and B is sometimes written as \overline{AB} . Pythagorean theorem is often used in the calculation of distance. Distance is a scalar, and thus is different from displacement. Displacement is a vector that measures distance with a straight line (and in only one path). Displacement is the shortest way to travel the distance.


drawer

title: Drawer

text: A drawer is a piece of furniture for storage. They are usually very short and wide and are part of a chest of drawers, where lots of drawers are stacked. Most have handles or knobs so they can be pulled out.

isa: furniture


endocrine

title: Hormone

text: Hormones are the chemical messengers of the endocrine system. Hormones are the signals which adjust the body's internal working, together with the nervous system. Every multicellular organism has hormones. The cells which react to a given hormone have special receptors for that hormone. When a hormone attaches to the receptor protein a mechanism for signalling is started. The cell or tissue that gets the message is called the 'target'. Hormones only act on cells which have the right receptors. Many different kinds of cells can send a message. There are some cells whose main job is to make hormones. When many of these cells are together, they are called a gland. Glands are groups of cells that make something and release it (put it outside the cell). Many glands make hormones. "Endocrine" means secreting directly into the blood. Most internal secretions are from endocrine glands. The opposite word is "exocrine", which means secreting through a duct or tube. Some hormones are produced by exocrine glands, and some exocrine secretions release outside the body. Sweat glands and salivary glands are examples of exocrine glands whose products are released outside the body. The first discovery of a hormone was made in 1902. The hormone was secretin. The word 'hormone' was first used in 1905.

isa: system


engine

title: Engine

text: An engine, or motor, is a machine used to change energy into movement that can be used. The energy can be in any form. Common forms of energy used in engines are chemical energy (such as petrol or diesel), or heat. When a chemical is used to produce energy it is known as fuel.

isa: machine


eyelid

title: Eyelid

text: An eyelid is a thin piece of skin that covers and protects the eye. It is one of the thinnest areas of skin on a persons body. A muscle pulls back the eyelid to "open" the eye. The eyelids are the last muscle to stop working when the body undergoes death. People do this willingly or without thinking. The human eyelid has a row of eyelashes that help protect the eye from dust and other small objects. Eyelashes also keep sweat out of the eye. Eyelids regularly spread tears and other secretions on the surface of the eye to keep it moist. The cornea is one part of the eye that must be kept moist. Eyelids keep the eyes from drying out when asleep. Also, the blink reflex protects the eye from things touching it.

isa: skin


facade

title: Façade

text: A façade ( ) is usually one side of the outside of a building. It is very often the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. The word comes from French word ( ), literally meaning "frontage" or "face".


fantasy

title: Fantasy

text: Fantasy is a genre of fiction (make believe) that shows some form of magic or supernatural elements. Often fantasy also means that the story happens in a fictional place, a world different from our own (e.g. Middle-earth or Narnia). Although the word fantasy is most often applied to low-tech worlds, it also can depict high tech worlds, overlapping with science fiction (science fantasy). Or it is used for historical fiction, if it is magical in some way.

isa: genre


fauna

title: Fauna

text: Fauna means animal life. It is a group term; it means the animal life typical of the time or place. It is a similar term to flora in Botany. So one might speak of the Eocene fauna as being different from the Miocene fauna. Or say, the fauna of a particular habitat. The flora and fauna of a savannah differ from those of a rain forest. Another use of the word is for published lists of animals, such as: *Linnaeus, Carolus. Fauna Suecica, 1746, the first book to use this term.


firewall

title: Firewall (networking)

text: In terms of computer security, a firewall is a piece of software. This software monitors the network traffic between the inside and outside. The firewall is placed between the network that is to be protected (trusted) and the outside network (less trusted) aka WAN or Internet. A firewall has a set of rules which are applied to each packet. The rules decide if a packet can pass, or whether it is discarded. When a large network needs to be protected, the firewall software often runs on a computer that does nothing else. A firewall protects one part of the network against unauthorized access.


five

title: 5 (number)

text: The number five is a number that comes after four, followed by six, then seven. In Roman numerals, it is V.


flint

title: Flint

text: Flint, or flintstone, is a kind of sedimentary rock, made of silica. Bands of flint are found embedded in chalk and other kinds of soft limestone. When the chalk is eroded, the hard flint nodules survive as pebbles on a shingle beach. It may happen that the pebbles later get cemented into another rock, such as a puddingstone. In this way, they make up a sedimentary rock for the second time.

isa: rock


flirt

title: Flirting

text: Flirting is a form of human behavior from one person toward another person, or between two people, usually showing a sexual or romantic interest in the other person. It can include conversation, body language (such as winking), or short physical contact.


flounder

title: Flounder

text: Flounders are a group of flatfish. The term is used for a number of flatfish who only related by being in the suborder Pleuronectoidei: (families Achiropsettidae, Bothidae, Pleuronectidae, Paralichthyidae, and Samaridae). It is a "form name", which means they are not necessarily close relations, they just look alike. Flounders live at the bottom of coastal lagoons and estuaries of the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. When flounder are hatched they have one eye on each side of its head. As they grow one eye moves until they have both eyes on the same side of the head. Industrial overfishing has reduced the population to one-tenth of its original size, and the individuals left are smaller. They rarely have the time to grow to full size.

isa: flatfish


fudge

title: Fudge

text: Fudge is a kind of candy which is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk. It is heated up to 240 degrees Fahrenheit (116 degrees Celsius) and beaten until it becomes smooth. Many things can be added to fudge, like fruits, nuts, chocolate, and caramel. Fudge is often sold in gift shops in places where there are a lot of tourists.


generator

title: Electrical generator

text: A generator usually means a machine that makes electrical energy. It has a generator head with wires, spinning inside a magnetic field. The resulting electromagnetic induction makes electricity flow through the wires. Hybrid electric vehicles carry a generator powerful enough to make them go. The biggest generators don't go anywhere; they stay in power stations. Different things can be used to make the generator head spin. Some small ones are cranked by someone's arms or legs. Bigger ones are connected to an engine. The biggest ones use a steam turbine or hydroelectric water power. Some use wind power. Whatever makes it turn, the generator converts this energy into electrical energy. Some portable generators have an internal combustion engine. They are harmful when used indoors because they make carbon monoxide.


hail

title: Ice pellets

text: Ice pellets are known as sleet in North America, and hail in Great Britain. They are a type of frozen precipitation, little balls of ice. Large ice pellets are called hailstones. Sometimes, ice pellets bounce when they hit the ground.


hole

title: Holes (novel)

text: Holes is a novel written by Louis Sachar. It was published on August 20, 1998 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, with cover art by Vladimir Radunsky. The novel is about Stanley Yelnats, a 15-year old boy who is sent to a camp for young criminals. At the camp, boys must dig 5 foot wide and 5-foot-deep holes in a dried up lake in the middle of a hot desert. The young criminals bullied Stanley Yelnats and treated him as a baby. The Yelnats family were cursed by Stanley's Great=Great-Grandfather. In 2003, Disney released a movie also titled Holes which was based on this novel. Holes was directed by Andrew Davis and written by the author of Holes himself, Louis Sachar. In 2006, Sachar also published a companion novel called Small Steps, which is about two of the side characters from Holes. The movie is currently found on Disney+.


humus

title: Humus

text: Humus (or humous) is the organic matter in the soil. It is made of dead parts of plants and animals. Humus takes in water and has plenty of nutrients. Nitrogen is the most important. Plants put roots into the soil to get the water and nutrients. Humus is good for plants because it is like a sponge. The dark colour of humus (usually black or dark brown) helps to warm up cold soils in the spring. When plants and insects die they are first raw organic matter. Bacteria and fungi eat the raw material, but they do not eat all of it. They leave a small amount behind. The part they leave behind is named "humus". This activity is dynamic and keeps happening. There is always more dead material arriving on top. So the soil always has organic material in it, along with small pieces of rock. In agriculture, "humus" usually means mature compost, or some taken naturally from a forest, where it may have lived for many years.

isa: matter


jack

title: Jack (Tekken)

text: Jack is a character in the Tekken series. He has many successors since Jack bots are usually destroyed.

isa: character


kali

title: Kali

text: Kali is one of the goddesses in Hinduism and aspect of another Hindu goddess Parvati. She is the goddess of creation, destruction and time, and commonly presented as dark and violent. Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shakta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. Kali is represented as the consort of Lord Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing. She is associated with many other Hindu goddesses like Durga, Bhadrakali, Sati, Rudrani, Parvati and Chamunda. She is the foremost among the Dasa Mahavidyas, ten fierce Tantric goddesses. Kali is most often characterized as black or blue, completely naked, with a long red lolling tongue, multiple arms, a skirt or girdle of human arms, a necklace of decapitated heads, and a decapitated head in one of her hands.


lane

title: Lane

text: A lane is a part of a highway that can be used by one line of vehicles. Most roads have two or more lanes, with at least one lane for traffic going each way. In the United Kingdom, a narrow rural road is called a lane. Some roads have a center lane to make it easier for cars and trucks to turn. There can also be turn lanes on the outer part of the road. If roads have more than one lane going in one direction, cars in the outer lanes usually go faster than cars in the inner lanes. Highways may also have express lanes that can only be used for certain types of vehicles, like those carrying two or more people. Lanes in most jurisdictions have rules for minimum and maximum lane widths. In the United States the Federal Highway Administration has recommended lane widths for US highways and interstates.


ledger

title: Ledger

text: A ledger is a book or computer file that helps keep track of how much of something, usually money, that a person or group of people have. A ledger is often used in accounting to keep track of money you owe or money that is owed to you. The three types of ledgers are the general, debtors, and creditors. The general ledger accumulates information from journals. Each month all journals are totaled and posted to the General Ledger.

isa: book


lipstick

title: Lipstick

text: Lipstick is a type of cosmetic used on the lips. It is used to make the lips shiny or to color them.


march

title: March

text: March (Mar.) is the third month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, coming between February and April. It has 31 days. March is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. March always begins on the same day of the week as November, and additionally, February in common years. March always ends on the same day of the week as June.

isa: month


maroon

title: Maroons

text: Maroon are Africans who escaped from the slavery in the Americas and who mixed with the native Americans. The fabric of slavery faced a formidable challenge as significant numbers of Africans sought refuge in remote areas, crafting what became known as maroon communities. Sprouting across the Americas, notably in the Caribbean and Brazil, these communities thrived with their distinct culture, governance, commerce, and defensive structures, defying the dominion of European and American oppressors. Their aspiration was simple yet profound: to carve out lives of liberty, beyond the reach and sway of plantation owners or colonial authorities. The term "maroon," documented in English since 1666, draws its origins from different sources. Some suggest it stems from the French "marron," denoting a "runaway black slave," while others link it to the American/Spanish "cimarrón," meaning a "wild runaway slave," often described as "the untamable beast" or "dwelling on mountaintops." Initially, the Spanish applied this term to their wandering cattle, with "cimarrón" believed to derive from "cima," meaning "summit."


mime

title: Mime

text: Mime is a type of acting that does not use words or speech. Mime is all about physical movement and exaggerating your expressions. Mimes (people who practice mime) must use their actions to send a message or tell a story. They are not allowed to speak directly to the audience. Probably the most well-known mime was Marcel Marceau. Mime originates from Rome and Greece. Some people also believe that cavemen used mime to communicate as they could not talk.


mock

title: Parody

text: A parody is a special piece of art. Parodies make fun of another piece of art by mocking it. The parody is an imitation of the original, but exaggerating it, showing clichés which have been used, to make the original look ridiculous or to make a comment about an issue affecting society. For example, in a serious Western movie, the good guys always seem to shoot better and faster than the bad guys. In a Western parody, this might be exaggerated by showing a good guy firing a single shot, and a dozen of the bad guys falling from their horses as a result. Mel Brooks is a director who has made many movies which are parodies: * Blazing Saddles is a parody of Western movies in general, * Spaceballs is a parody of the Star Wars movies, and science fiction in general, * Men in Tights is a parody of Robin Hood movies, The website Uncyclopedia is also a parody of Wikipedia. Parodies can be anything from songs to poems to books to movies. A movie that makes a parody of another movie or several movies at once is a parody movie. Newspaper columnists are well known for their strip cartoons which can very often parody public opinion on major issues affecting society, such as the recent credit crunch.


novel

title: Novel

text: Novels are books that have one long story written in them. They are works of prose fiction and are longer than short stories and novellas. There are many kinds of novels. For example, some are adventure stories, like Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. There are horror stories like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. There are also science fiction novels like Dune by Frank Herbert, and humorous novels like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Novels in English are usually at least 60,000 words long. Some are much longer, at 150,000 words or more. Novels usually have 100 pages or more. The first novels were written more than three hundred years ago. Some people say that Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is the first novel; it was first published in 1605.


palate

title: Palate

text: The palate is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity (mouth) from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilia, but, in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separate. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior bony hard palate, and the posterior fleshy soft palate or velum. The hard palate is formed before birth. If the fusion is not complete, it is called a cleft palate. This is a birth or congenital defect. As the roof of the mouth was once considered the seat of the sense of taste, palate can also refer to this sense itself, as in the phrase "a discriminating palate". By further extension, the flavour of a food (particularly beer or wine) may be called its palate.

isa: roof


performance

title: Performance

text: A performance, in performing arts, is an event in which one group of people (the performer or performers) behave in a particular way for another group of people (the audience). In dance a group of people will usually go on stage to perform for the audience.

isa: event


perfume

title: Perfume

text: Perfume is a liquid that gives people, things and rooms a good smell. It is made of oils which give off scent to the surrounding air. The odoriferous compounds that make up a perfume can be manufactured synthetically or extracted from plant or animal sources. Perfumes were used in the earliest human civilizations. Modern perfumery began in the late 19th century with the commercial synthesis of aroma compounds such as vanillin or coumarin. The artificial compounds gave a wider ranger of scents than natural materials. Perfume smells more when temperature is warmer. So people put it on the neck, wrist and back of the knee, because these parts are warmer. Eau de Cologne is a type of perfume which can be splashed on the body. It is not so concentrated as the usual perfumes.

isa: liquid


permutation

title: Permutation

text: A permutation is a single way of arranging a group of objects. It is useful in mathematics. A permutation can be changed into another permutation by simply switching two or more of the objects. For example, the way four people can sit in a car is a permutation. If some of them chose different seats, then it would be a different permutation.


plantain

title: Plantain

text: The plantain is a crop from the genus Musa. Its fruits are edible, and are generally used for cooking. This is different from the soft and sweet banana (which is often called dessert banana). Dessert bananas are more common to import in countries in the European Union or the United States. The way certain species are called often show how they are used: cooking plantain, banana plantain, beer banana, bocadillo plantain (the little one), etc. All members of the genus Musa are indigenous to the tropical region of Southeast Asia, including the Malay Archipelago and northern Australia. Plantains are often firmer than dessert bananas; they also have less sugar. Dessert bananas are often eaten raw; plantains are usually cooked or otherwise processed before they are eaten. Plantains are a staple food in tropical regions, treated similarly to potatoes. Primary cultivation originated in Southeast Asia, secondary in West Africa. Other regions with plantain crops include the Southern United States, the Caribbean, Central America, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda, Okinawa, Kerala and Taiwan. Farmers grow plantains as far north as Northern California and as far south as KwaZulu-Natal.

isa: crop


plastic

title: Plastic

text: A plastic is a synthetic material that can change its shape easily. Many things are made of plastics, usually because making them to the right shape is easy. Some plastics have other materials added to them, like glass, because they make the plastic stronger and stiffer. Plastics are used to make many products, such as nylon or polyester clothing; toys; electronics; food containers; pipes; bags; parachutes; ropes; car parts; medical supplies; bulletproof glass; and body armor.

isa: material


punter

title: Punter

text: A punter (P) is a position in American and Canadian football. Punters are members of the special teams. Punts punt the ball away to the opposite team during a fourth (American) or Third (Canadian) down. The punter will sometimes do a fake punt and run or throw the ball. They can also fill in for a placekicker.

isa: position


quiver

title: Quiver

text: A quiver is a holder for arrows or crossbow bolts. It can be carried on an archer's body, the bow, or the ground. It varies by the variety of shooting and the archer's personal likes. Quivers were originally made of leather, wood, fur, and other natural materials. Now they are often made of metal or plastic.

isa: holder


quota

title: Quota

text: A quota is a number that says how much or how many of something or someone is allowed or required. It comes from a Latin language word meaning "How many?" Examples include: * Immigration quota * Import quota * Production quota * Marketing quota


raccoon

title: Raccoon

text: The raccoon (Procyon lotor, common raccoon,) is a mammal. Raccoons are curious, clever, and solitary. They are originally from North America. They have spread through Central America, and live in various habitats. They have escaped in some parts of Eurasia (see map), and now live there as well. Raccoons are in the family Caniformia, and are related to the mustelids. The raccoon has short legs, a pointed nose, small ears, grayish-brown fur, and a bushy tail. The raccoon's most distinctive features are its multi-purpose front paws, its facial 'mask', and its striped tail. Moreover, raccoons are noted for their intelligence. Studies show they are able to remember the solution to tasks for up to three years. Raccoons are usually nocturnal. Their food is about 40% invertebrates, 33% plant foods, and 27% vertebrates. Raccoons are omnivores. They feed on mice, squirrels, rabbits, birds, fish, frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes, eggs, insects, worms, fruit, and nuts. Their predators are red foxes, wolves, coyotes, bears, eagles, hawks, owls, cougars, and lynxes. Most raccoons live in the wild. Being around humans does not bother them. They often nest in empty buildings, garages, sheds, and even the attics of houses. Raccoons do not hibernate in the winter. Those that live further north where it is colder, grow thick coats to keep them warm and spend long periods sleeping. Raccoons that live in captivity can survive up to 20 years. In the wild, they usually live only 1–3 years. Two other species of raccoon, the crab-eating raccoon (P. cancrivorus) and the Cozumel Island raccoon (P. pygmaeus), are extremely similar to the common raccoon. The crab-eating raccoon is quite widespread in eastern South America. After a gestation period (pregnancy) of about 65 days, two to five young are born in spring. Newborn raccoons are called "kits". *A raccoon climbed a building in Minnesota.


radio

title: Radio

text: Radio is a way to send electromagnetic signals over a long distance. It is mainly used to deliver information from one place to another. A machine that sends radio waves is called a transmitter, while a machine that "picks up" the signals is called a receiver or antenna. A machine that does both jobs is a "transceiver". When radio signals are sent out to many receivers at the same time, it is called a broadcast. Television also uses radio signals to send pictures and sound. Airplanes and other things may be used under radio control. Radio signals can be used to lock and unlock the doors in a car from a distance. Sound can be sent by radio, sometimes through Frequency Modulation (FM) or Amplitude Modulation (AM).


recovery

title: Recovery

text: Recovery is the seventh studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on June 18, 2010 by Aftermath Entertainment and Shady Records. The album got very good sales and reviews. Four singles were released from the album: "Not Afraid", "Love the Way You Lie", "No Love", and "Space Bound". It won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

isa: album


recruit

title: Recruitment

text: Recruitment is the process of finding new people to do a job. For a company or organization, it is important to choose the right people from the beginning. This is because human resources are often a very important part of a business. Recruitment has many different steps. First, the company needs to advertise that it has a job available. People then send an application. This usually includes a curriculum vitae, which is a summary of what a person has done until now in their life. The best applicants are selected and they come for an interview. This might also include some further tests or exercises to do. The person chosen is then given an offer of a job. Finally, they can choose to take it or not. There are many ways of doing recruitment. Some companies go to consultants, who know where and how to find the best people. Universities and schools often have a group of people that tells the students about getting a job. At other times, a company might really want a person that is very good at a job but works for another company. They can then ask directly to this person, maybe offering more money. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are also sometimes used by people looking for a job.

isa: process


retinal

title: Retinal

text: Retinal (also known as Retinaldehyde) is a hydrocarbon belonging to the aldehyde group. It is commonly used as a skincare product.


rhythm

title: Rhythm

text: Rhythm refers to the length of time between each major "beat", or accent, such as in a piece of music. It is the sequence of sounds and silences which make up the rhythm. The first beat of a group of regular, evenly spaced beats usually feels stronger than the others. When we write music down, we put each group in bars (or “measures”). Rhythms can have different patterns which can be clapped or tapped. In Western music, these patterns are common: *1 2, 1 2 *1 2 3, 1 2 3 *1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4. A conductor will beat time. The rhythm will fit in to this regular beat. All musicians have to have a good sense of rhythm. To play or sing rhythmically they must keep a steady beat in their head (if playing alone), listen to the others players (if playing in groups) or watch the conductor (if there is one). People who are playing on their own can practise with a metronome to help them to play to a steady beat. However, musicians also use rubato (rhythmic freedom), especially when playing music of a romantic nature. One has to learn to let the music “breathe” in the right way. This is not the same as playing unrhythmically (badly). It is something one learns with experience. Feeling the rhythm in music is basically human. A person who has a stroke may lose language, but not the sense of rhythm. Neurologist Oliver Sacks says that chimpanzees and other animals do not have a sense of rhythm.


roof

title: Roof

text: A roof is the top surface of the building. The plural of 'roof' is 'roofs'. The roof keeps out rain and snow and protects people from the sun. Some roofs are sloped, or pitched, so the rain and snow fall off easily. Some roofs are flat, but even flat roofs have a little bit of pitch so the water can flow away towards a drain.

isa: surface


scalar

title: Scalar

text: A scalar is a single number, normally a real number or complex number. The word "scalar" is normally used to separate single numbers from more complicated algebraic structures like vectors, matrices, or tensors. Formally, scalars need to be part of a field, so they have the normal arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In an algebraic structure like a vector space, this field (called the underlying field) also has an operation called scalar multiplication with elements of the space. A scalar k can be multiplied to a vector \mathbf{v} or a matrix A , resulting in the vector k\mathbf{v} and the matrix kA , respectively. For vectors, scalar multiplication produces a new vector of different length in the same or opposite direction of the original vector.


shellfish

title: Shellfish

text: Shellfish is a culinary term for some aquatic invertebrates used as food: molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. It is not a scientific term, and its use may vary from place to place. Both saltwater and freshwater invertebrates are considered shellfish. Molluscs commonly used as food include the clam, mussel, oyster, winkle, and scallop. Some crustaceans commonly eaten are the shrimp, prawn, lobster, crayfish, and crab. Echinoderms are not eaten as commonly as molluscs and crustaceans. In Asia, sea cucumber and sea urchins are eaten. Edible cephalopods such as squid, octopus, and cuttlefish and terrestrial snails, though all molluscs, are sometimes considered to be shellfish and sometimes not. The term finfish is sometimes used to distinguish ordinary (vertebrate) fish from shellfish. Jewish and Islamic dietary laws forbid the eating of shellfish (those that live on the land, and in the water). In Japanese cuisine, chefs often use shellfish and their roe. Sushi and sashimi feature both raw and cooked shellfish.


soap

title: Soap

text: Soap is a chemical compound resulting from the reaction of an alkali (commonly sodium or potassium hydroxide) with a fatty acid. Soaps are the metallic salts of long chain fatty acids. When mixed with water during bathing, cleansing, or washing, they help people and clothes get clean by lowering the chance of dirt and oil to get to the skin or fabric. Soaps are made from animal fats or vegetable oils. There are two basic steps in making soap. They are called Saponification and Salting-out of soap. Some people like to make their own soap. Soap cleans very well in soft water. It is not toxic to water life. It can be broken down by bacteria. However, it is slightly soluble in water, so it is not often used in washing machines. It does not work well in hard water. It cannot be used in strongly acidic solutions. Mild hand soaps are only basic enough to remove unwanted skin oils. For other forms of oil, dishwashing soap is strong enough to remove almost all forms of oil without damaging petroleum products such as plastics. It does not damage skin either. Soap suds physically capture and lift germs (a virus, bacteria etc.) off of the surface of the skin and then water rinses them into the sink. Soap has been made in many ways. Humanity has used soap-like things for thousands of years. The earliest recorded evidence of the making of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BC in Ancient Babylon and Sumeria. They were soap solutions, or soapy water. People made them by mixing ashes with water and fat and boiling them. The Babylonians used water, alkali and cassia to make soap. Ancient Gauls added salt to the soap solution to make the solid soap fall out. The Ebers papyrus (Egypt, 1550 BC) suggests that ancient Egyptians bathed often and had animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to make a soap-like substance. Egyptian document s say that a soap-like substance was used in the preparation of wool for weaving.


sonnet

title: Sonnet

text: A Sonnet (sonetto in Italian) is a type of poem. It is 14 lines long and is written in rhyme. The sonnet first appeared in Italy during the Middle Ages and was widely used during the Renaissance. The first poet known for his sonnets is Giacomo da Lentini who lived in the 13th century. After him many poets started writing sonnets. Two notable ones are Dante Alighieri and Guido Cavalcanti. The Italian poet Petrarch was famous for his sonnets. He was very popular and many poets imitated his poems. Francisco de Sá de Miranda introduced the form into Portuguese literature. So did Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey in England. Even in distant Poland sonnets were written by Jan Kochanowski, Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński and Sebastian Grabowiecki. It became common for poets to write sonnets in connected series, called "sonnet sequences," to tell a story, often one about a love affair. Michelangelo, a famous sculptor and painter wrote sonnets, too. He exchanged them with Vittoria Colonna. Poets in other countries quickly adopted the sonnet and sonnet sequence. William Shakespeare wrote the most famous sonnets in English literature, though other poets of his time, such as Ben Jonson, Edmund Spenser, Michael Drayton, and Samuel Daniel, wrote sonnet sequences also. Later English poets like John Donne, John Milton, William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats wrote sonnets that are still admired and studied today. In United States Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Emma Lazarus wrote sonnets. The rigid rhyme scheme of the sonnet went out of fashion during the twentieth century, but a few modern poets still write them sometimes. Edna St. Vincent Millay was one modern poet writing in English who often worked in the sonnet form. Modern poets have often changed the traditional rhythms and rhyme patterns of the sonnet, sometimes radically. In a traditional "English" or "Shakespearean" sonnet, the first twelve lines are divided into three groups ("stanzas") of four lines each, called "quatrains". The last two lines usually rhyme, and make up a "rhymed couplet" that concludes the poem by summing up the story told in the previous quatrains. In the traditional "Italian" or "Petrarchan" sonnet, the poem divides into a group of eight lines ("octave") followed by a group of six lines ("sestet"). The volta (or turn) in a sonnet, changes the mood of the sonnet. In a "Petrarchan sonnet", the volta occurs after the octave and before the sestet.


speculation

title: Speculation

text: Speculation has a special meaning when talking about money. The person who speculates is called a speculator. A speculator does not buy goods to own them, but to sell them later. The reason is that he wants to make a profit from the change in price. One tries to buy the goods when they are cheap and to sell them when they are expensive. There is a good chance to profit as long as the market price changes often in different directions. Speculation includes the buying, holding, selling, and short-selling of stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, collectibles, real estate, derivatives or any investment. It is the opposite of buying because one wants to use them for daily life or to get income from them (as dividends or interest). Speculation is one of the biggest market roles in western financial markets. The others are hedging, long term investing and arbitrage. Speculators do not plan to keep an asset for a long time.


spiritualism

title: Spiritualism

text: Spiritualism is a belief that humans can communicate with the spirits of the dead. It was popular in the nineteenth century up to the 1930s. The main centres were in America and Europe, with the Caribbean and South America, where it is usually called Spiritism. Spiritualism did not have a book with authority, but it had pamphlets, meetings and mediums. A medium is a person, often female, who acts as a go-between between the living and the dead. At its peak, spiritualism was very popular, and its followers formed Spiritualist churches.

isa: belief


straw

title: Straw

text: Straw is the stems of cereal grains like oats or wheat, after the seeds have been removed. It is often used as bedding for animals (hay is used to feed animals). It can also be used as fuel, to make baskets, and many other things. In older times, it was used for thatch roofs, or mixed with clay and sand for the cob and adobe used in building houses.

isa: stem


suet

title: Suet

text: Suet is the hard white fat that surrounds internal organs, especially the kidneys. It is available to buy ready prepared, in which case it is mixed with flour to stop it melting at room temperature.

isa: fat


torch

title: Flashlight

text: A flashlight (in American English) or torch (in Commonwealth countries) is a small, portable spotlight. Its function is a beam of light which helps to see. It usually requires batteries. The light is made by a small light bulb. In the 20th century, it was usually an incandescent bulb. Nowadays most use LEDs, which work slightly differently. In 1896, the first dry cell battery was invented. Unlike previous batteries, it used a paste electrolyte instead of a liquid. This was the first battery suitable for portable electrical devices, as it did not spill or break easily and worked in any orientation. Sometimes the electricity comes from a small generator instead of a battery. The torch can also refer to a flammable stick that is lit on fire to provide light and (or) heat.


transmitter

title: Transmitter

text: In electronics, a transmitter is a device which sends signals using radio waves. The transmitter converts direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC) at the desired frequency. Most transmitters use a quartz crystal to set the frequency of the resulting carrier wave. A modulator modifies the carrier wave, by frequency modulation or amplitude modulation or some other kind, to include the information needed, such as an audio or video signal. The modified waves are sent by an antenna to another antenna at the receiver which extracts the information from the waves.

isa: device


tusk

title: Tusk

text: Tusks are very long teeth that some animals have. Tusks are made of ivory. Ivory is very rare and expensive. Many warthog, walrus, mammoth, and elephants are killed for their tusks. One third of a tusk is in the walrus and elephant’s head.


vibration

title: Vibration

text: Vibration means quickly moving back and forth (or up and down) about a point of equilibrium. The vibration may be periodic (having a pattern) or random. Something that is vibrating may shake at the same time. If it vibrates in a regular way, it may produce a musical note because it can make the air vibrate. This vibration will send sound waves to the ear and to the brain. In structural engineering including earthquake engineering, vibrations may be bad. They may cause the structure to fail. Vehicles and their passengers or cargo may also suffer damage from vibrations. The time it takes a vibrating object to go back and forth completely is the period. The number of back-and-forth movements in one second is its frequency, measured in Hertz (Hz). The farthest possible distance from the equilibrium point is the amplitude.


waffle

title: Waffle

text: For the verb "to waffle", please see this page A waffle is a cooked food made from a batter that consists of flour, water, baking powder, oil, and eggs. It has a gridlike appearance because it is cooked in between two hot metal plates in an electric kitchen appliance called a waffle iron. Waffles are cooked until they become golden-brown in color, with a crispy outer texture and a soft interior. They are usually served as a breakfast or as a dessert, and they are usually served with maple syrup, sweet sauces, or toppings. Waffles were first introduced to North America in 1620 by Pilgrims who brought the method from Holland.

isa: food


wale

title: Wales

text: Wales ( ; [ˈkəm.rɨ] ( )) is one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom. It is west of England, and east of the Irish Sea and Ireland. Wales is one of the Celtic areas of Britain. The native people of Wales, the Welsh, have their own culture and traditions. They have their own Celtic language, Welsh. Not all Welsh people can speak Welsh, and it is primarily spoken in North Wales. It is mandatory for all children until the age of 16 to learn Welsh in schools. Virtually all Welsh people can speak English. Most speak only English. The Welsh language is an official language alongside English, and has equal official status. Three million people live in Wales. Most of them live in the southern and southeastern parts of the country. In this area is the capital and largest city of Wales, Cardiff, and the next largest city, Swansea. Wales has an ageing population and falling birth rates. The economy is suffering because there are not enough people of working age. Gross value added per head in Wales — a measure of how much money is generated through goods produced and services delivered — is 74% of the UK average.

isa: country


whisper

title: The Whispers

text: The Whispers are an American rhythm and blues band based in Los Angeles. They have had several hit records since the 1960s. The Whispers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. They were winners of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award in 2008. By popular vote, they were inducted into the SoulMusic Hall of Fame in December 2012. They were later inducted into the Official R&B Music Hall of Fame in 2014. The Whispers formed in 1964 in the Watts, a neighborhood of Los Angeles. They had many R&B and United States Billboard Hot 100 hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s. The songs included "Rock Steady", "And the Beat Goes On", "It's a Love Thing "Keep on Lovin' Me" and several other songs.


wryneck

title: Woodpecker

text: The woodpeckers and its near relatives the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers are the family Picidae. They are near-passerine birds. Members of the Picidae are found worldwide, except for the parts of old Gondwana which they did not get to: Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and Antarctica. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats. The Picidae are just one of the eight living families in the order Piciformes. DNA sequence analyses have shown they are a clade. There are about 240 species and about 35 genera in this family. Many species are threatened or endangered due to loss of habitat or habitat fragmentation.


year

title: Year

text: The year (symbol: y or a, also known as the annum or annus) is about 365 days (except in a leap year). It is the time it takes the Earth to go completely around (orbit) the sun once. A year is actually almost 365.25 days long, but the Gregorian and Julian calendar has 365 days, except in a leap year, which has 366 days. The year starts on January 1 and ends on December 31 in the Gregorian and Julian calendar. A fiscal year or a school year can start or end on a different day. There are several ways used to measure the length of a year. * a Solar year, also called tropical year, is based on the seasons. The Gregorian calendar is based on a tropical year of 365.2425 days. This is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the cycle of seasons, as seen from Earth; for example, the time from vernal equinox to vernal equinox, or from summer solstice to summer solstice. The word "tropical" in this sense comes from the Greek tropical meaning "turn". * a Lunar year is based on the Moon and is * usually 12 Lunar months (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes each) or 354 or 355 days long. * a sidereal year measures the time between when a selected fixed star is highest in the night sky. * an anomalistic year is the difference between the times when the Earth gets closest to the Sun. * an eclipse year is the time between node passages. This is when the Sun moves through a part of the sky where it is possible for the Sun, Earth and moon to be in a line. It is when eclipses can happen. Solar and lunar years are used by different calendars for daily life. The other measurements are used by astronomers. * Ma (for megaannum) — one million years. The term "Ma" is often used in scientific disciplines such as geology, paleontology, and astronomy to signify very long time periods into the past or future. The simpler term "mya" for "million years ago" is generally preferred on this wiki as being intuitively more simple for non-technical readers. A specific calendar is provided for the liturgical year.