Tag: general knowledge

Ampere is the unit used to measure the rate of flow of an electric current.

Amphetamine is any one of a group of synthetic drugs that stimulate the brain, increasing the user’s alertness and readiness for action.

Amphibian is an animal with scaleless skin that–with a few exceptions–lives part of its life in water and part on land.

Amphibious ship is a warship that lands troops, weapons, and vehicles on beaches during amphibious assaults.

Amphibious warfare, is the conduct of military operations by naval, air, and land forces for the purpose of seizing a beach or coastal area.

Amphibole is any of a group of common rock-forming minerals.

Amphioxus, also called lancelet, is a small sea animal that lives in shallow water.

Amputation refers to the surgical removal of a limb, part of a limb, or another part of the body.

Amulet is a charm that supposedly has magic power.

Amur River is a stream in eastern Siberia, formed by the joining of the Argun and Shilka rivers.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called ALS, is a rare, incurable disease of the nervous system.

Anabaptists were one form of what has been called the radical wing of the Reformation of the 1500’s.

Anableps, also called four-eyed fish, is a small fish of tropical America that swims at the top of the water.

Anaconda is the name of two kinds of large snakes found in tropical South America.

Anaemia is a condition in which the number of healthy red blood cells falls below normal.

Anaesthesia is the loss of sensation-particularly that of pain in all or part of the body.

Anaesthetics is a branch of medicine that deals with the administration of drugs for the relief of pain and anxiety during surgery and childbirth.

Analgesic is any drug that relieves pain without causing unconsciousness.

Analog computer is a device that solves problems by working directly with a physical quantity, such as weight, voltage, or speed, rather than with digits that represent the quantity.

Analytical chemistry is a branch of chemistry that deals with the development and use of techniques for chemical measurement.

Ananias was a member of the early church at Jerusalem.

Anaphylactic shock, also called anaphylaxis, is a rare, life-threatening allergic reaction that affects the whole body.

Anarchism is a belief that every form of regulation or government is immoral, and that restraint of one person by another is an evil which must be destroyed.

Anatolian shepherd is a dog which descended from the ancient mastiff dogs of Asia Minor.

Anatomy is the study of the structure of plants, animals, and human beings.

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Ambulance is a vehicle designed to transport sick or injured people.

America is the great land mass of the Western Hemisphere.

American Civil War (1861-1865), was a conflict between two parts of the United States of America.

American literature cannot be captured in a simple definition.

American Revolution (1775-1783), led to the birth of a new nation–the United States.

American Samoa is a United States territory, about 3,700 kilometres southwest of Hawaii.

American Staffordshire terrier is a breed of dog that originated in the United States.

American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), is a code that computers use to process letters, numbers, and other character data.

American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) is one of the world’s largest information-processing companies.

American water spaniel is a gun dog that was developed in the United States.

Americium is an artificially created radioactive element.

Amery is the family name of two Conservative politicians, a father and son.

Amethyst is a gemstone of a purple or bluish-violet colour.

Amine is the name of a group of weak organic bases that are similar to ammonia in structure.

Amino acid is the name for the organic compounds that make up all the proteins in living things.

Amish belong to a Protestant group that originated in Switzerland, but is now centred in the United States and Canada.

Ammeter is an instrument that measures the electric current in a circuit in units called amperes.

Ammonia is a colourless alkaline gas made up of one part nitrogen and three parts hydrogen.

Ammunition is any object fired or launched from a gun or some other weapon.

Amnesia is a partial or, in rare cases, a complete loss of memory.

Amnesty is forgiveness by a government for crimes against it.

Amnesty International is an independent, worldwide human-rights organization.

Amniocentesis is a medical procedure sometimes performed during pregnancy to help determine the health and maturity of an unborn baby.

Amoeba is a tiny, one-celled organism that usually can only be seen under a microscope.

Amon became the most important god in ancient Egyptian mythology.

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Altai Mountains form a lofty range that runs northwest across the borders of western Mongolia and Kazakhstan.

Altar is a raised place or object that serves as the central point of religious worship.

Alternation of generations is a term that describes the life cycle of most plants and some algae.

Altimeter is a sensitive instrument that indicates altitude.

Altitude is the height of an object above the earth’s surface, sea level, or some other given level.

Altitude sickness is an illness experienced at high altitudes by people who are accustomed to living at much lower altitudes.

Alum is the name of a particular group of double salts.

Alumina, also called aluminium oxide, is a compound composed of aluminium and oxygen.

Aluminium, also spelled aluminum, is a lightweight, silver-coloured metal that can be formed into almost any shape.

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disease that causes increasing loss of memory and other mental abilities.

Amadis of Gaul is a famous Spanish romance of chivalry.

Amalgam is an alloy of mercury with some other metal.

Amanites are members of a religious group called the Amana Church Society.

Amaranth is the common name of a genus (group) of plants that includes weeds, garden flowers, and crops.

Amaryllis is a family of more than 1,200 species of flowers.

Amati family was a family of violin makers who worked in Cremona, Italy, from the 1500’s to the 1700’s.

Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest tropical rainforest.

Amazon River is the world’s second longest river and the chief river of South America.

Amazons were a race of warlike women in Greek mythology.

Ambassador is the personal representative of a country’s head of state at the capital of another country.

Amber is a hard, yellowish-brown fossilized resin.

Ambergris is a waxy substance found in the intestines of some sperm whales.

Amberjack is a large, fast-swimming game fish found in warm and tropical oceans.

Ambivalence is a psychiatric term for contradictory feelings or thoughts about one’s self, another person, or a situation.

Ambrosia was a magical substance eaten by the gods of Greek and Roman mythology.

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Allah is the Arabic name for the Supreme Being of the religion of Islam.

Allegheny Mountains form part of the Appalachian Mountain system of the United States.

Allegory is a story with more than one meaning.

Allergy is a body reaction that occurs in persons who are sensitive to certain substances.

Alliance joins two or more countries in a defence against a common threat or enemy.

Alligator is the name of two kinds of reptiles related to crocodiles.

Alliteration occurs when the same sound starts succeeding accented syllables.

Allopathy is a method in medical practice that tries to cure a disease by producing effects on the body that differ from the effects of the disease.Allosaurus was a large, meat-eating dinosaur that lived about 150 million years ago.

Allotment, in England and Wales, is a plot of cultivated land not larger than 2.02 hectares.

Allotropy, in chemistry, is the ability of an element to exist in more than one form.

Alloy is a material made up of a metal and at least one other element.

Allspice is a spice with a flavour similar to that of a combination of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

Alluvial fan is a deposit of stratified silts, sands, gravels, and other materials.

Alluvium is soil, sand, gravel, clay, silt, or other material deposited by running water.

Almanac is a book or pamphlet, usually published once a year, that contains many kinds of information.

Almond is a nut.

Almshouses are homes provided by private benefactors for the aged poor.

Aloe, is the name of a group of over 200 fleshy-leaved plants native to the Middle East, Madagascar, and southern Africa.

Alpaca is a grazing animal of South America that is related to the camel.

Alpenhorn, also called alphorn, is a long tube-shaped instrument used chiefly by herders in mountain regions.

Alpha and Omega is an expression used to give the idea of completeness, or “the beginning and the end.” The two words are the names of the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet.

Alpha Centauri is a multiple star system in the constellation Centaurus.

Alpha particle is a positively charged, high-energy particle given off by the nucleus of a radioactive atom when it undergoes a nuclear transformation.

Alphabet is the series of letters used in writing a language.

Alps are the largest mountain system in Europe.

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Alcoholism is a disease in which a person has an overwhelming desire to drink alcoholic beverages.

Aldehyde is an important class of organic chemical compounds.

Alder is the name given to about 30 types of shrubs and small trees found in northern temperate regions of the world.

Aleatory music is a type of music in which the composer provides only a general outline of the composition.

Aleutian Islands are a chain of volcanic islands that extend over 1,400 kilometres westward from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula.

Aleuts are people who have traditionally lived on the harsh, windswept Aleutian Islands, which lie off the mainland of Alaska.

Alewife is a member of the herring family.

Alexander technique is a system of instruction that aims to improve posture and physical movement in everyday life.

Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.), was king of Macedonia and one of the greatest generals in history.

Alexander Turnbull Library is a research library in Wellington, on the North Island of New Zealand.

Alexandrian Library was the largest and most famous of the ancient collections of scrolls.

Alexandrite is a rare gem that has a high lustre.

Alfalfa is a valuable crop grown mainly for livestock feed.

Algae are simple organisms that live in oceans, lakes, rivers, ponds, and moist soil.

Algebra is one of the chief branches of mathematics.

Algol, also called Beta Persei, is the second brightest star in the constellation Perseus.

Algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for solving a mathematical problem in a limited number of steps.

Alhambra is a palace and fortress in Granada, Spain, built by the Moors between 1248 and 1354.

Ali ibn Abi Talib (598-661), a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, became a central figure of Shiite Islam

Alien, in law, means a person who is not a citizen of the country in which he or she lives.

Alienation is the feeling of being isolated from certain aspects of one’s environment.

Alimentary canal is a long tube through which food is taken into the body and digested.

Alkali, in chemistry, refers to six chemical elements that are known as alkali metals: lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, and francium.

Alkaloid is any of a group of organic bases found in plants.

Alkalosis is a condition in which the body accumulates an excess of alkali, or loses more than the usual amount of acid.

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Agribusiness is the group of industries involved in producing, transporting, processing, distributing, and selling farm products.

Agrimony is the common name for a group of about 18 species of woodland plants that grow in Asia, Europe, North America, and the Andes Mountains of South America.

Agrippina the Younger (A.D. 15-59) was one of the most powerful women in ancient Rome.

Agronomy is a branch of agricultural science that deals with the study of crops and the soils in which they grow.

AIDS is the final, life-threatening stage of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Ailanthus is a hardy tree that thrives in cities and places where other trees fail to grow.

Ailsa Craig is a rocky islet 16 kilometres off the coast of the Southern Uplands region of Scotland, south of the Isle of Arran.

Ainu are a group of people who may have been the first inhabitants of Japan.

Air is the mixture of gases that surrounds the earth.

Air bag is an inflatable car safety device that helps protect a driver or front-seat passenger in a head-on or front-angle collision.

Air cleaner is a device that removes contaminants (impurities) from a stream of gas or air.

Air compressor is any device used to compress air.

Air conditioning controls the temperature, moisture, cleanliness, and movement of indoor air.

Air force is the branch of a nation’s armed forces responsible for military operations in the air.

Air lock is a device that permits people or materials to pass in or out of a structure called a pneumatic caisson.

Air pollution occurs when wastes dirty the air.

Air rights are the rights to use the space above a piece of land.

Airborne troops are soldiers trained for assault by air.

Airbrush is a tool used by photographers and commercial artists to apply colour or shading to drawings, prints, and photographs.

Aircraft carrier is a ship used as a mobile base for aeroplanes.

Airedale terrier is the name of a breed of large terriers.

Airline is an organization that operates aircraft to carry passengers and cargo through the air.

Airmail is the fastest way to send letters and packages.

Airport is a place where aeroplanes and other aircraft land and take off.

Airship is a lighter-than-air aircraft.

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1. Adjective is a part of speech that describes, qualifies, or places limits on a noun or pronoun.
2. Adjutant is the name of two species of large birds in the stork family.
3. Admiral is the highest rank in a navy.
4. Admiralty is a traditional name for a department of a nation’s government that directs naval affairs.
5. Admiralty Islands, a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea.
6. Adobe is the Spanish name for sun-dried bricks, or for a house built with such bricks.
7. Adolescent is a person who is no longer a child but not yet an adult.
8. Adonis was a handsome youth in Greek mythology.
9. Adonis is the name of a group of plants that grow wild in Europe and Asia.
10. Adoption is the process by which people become legal parents of a child who was not born to them and raise the child as a member of their family.
11. Adrenal gland is a small body organ that secretes many important hormones.
12. Adrenaline is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands.
13. Adriatic Sea is a gulf, or arm, of the Mediterranean Sea.
14. Adventists are members of religious groups that stress the doctrine of the Second Coming.
15. Adverb is a part of speech that adds meaning to a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
16. Advertising is a message designed to promote a product, a service, or an idea.
17. A.E.F., also written AEF, stands for the Allied Expeditionary Forces sent to Continental Europe during World War II (1939-1945).
18. Aegean civilization consisted of four cultures that flourished on the islands and shores of the Aegean Sea between 3000 and 1200 B.C. These cultures are called the Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean, and Trojan cultures.
19. Aegean Sea is a gulf or arm of the Mediterranean Sea.
20. Aegis was the name of the shield made for Jupiter by Vulcan.
21. Aeneas was a Trojan hero in Greek and Roman mythology.
22. Aeneid, the national epic of ancient Rome, is one of the world’s greatest poems of heroic adventure.
23. Aeolian harp is an unusual ancient musical instrument.
24. Aeolians were a group of ancient Greeks.
25. Aeolus was the keeper of the winds in Greek mythology.

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Acre is a measure of land in the imperial system.

Acropolis was the religious and military centre of a city-state in ancient Greece.

Acrylic is any one of a group of synthetic products made primarily from petroleum.

ACTH is an abbreviation of the chemical substance adrenocorticotrophic hormone.

Actinium, a chemical element, is an extremely rare, silvery-white, radioactive metal that glows in the dark.

Actinomycosis is a rare, infectious disease that affects human beings.

Actium, Battle of, was a naval battle that settled the struggle for control of ancient Rome between co-rulers Gaius Octavian and Mark Antony.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese method of relieving pain and treating a variety of diseases by inserting needles into various parts of the body.

A.D. is the abbreviation for anno Domini, which is Latin for in the year of our Lord.

Adam and Eve, according to the Bible and the Quran, were the first man and woman created by God.

Adams-Onis Treaty, or Transcontinental Treaty, was an agreement between the United States and Spain.

Adaptation is a characteristic of an organism that makes it better able to survive and reproduce in its environment.

Addax is an antelope that lives in the deserts of North Africa.

Adder is the name given to several species of snakes in various parts of the world.

Adding machine is a device that adds numbers.

Addison, Thomas (1793-1860), was a British doctor famous for his description of Addison’s disease

Addison’s disease is a serious ailment of the adrenal glands.

Addition is a way of putting together two or more things to find out how many there are altogether.

Adenoids, also known as pharyngeal tonsils, are a mass of glandlike tissue normally present in the

upper part of the throat, directly behind the nasal passages.

Adhesion is the property of two unlike substances that causes them to stick together.

Adhesion, in the body, is a name for new tissue that sometimes binds together internal and normally separate organs of the body.

Adhesive is a substance that bonds surfaces together.

Adi Granth, meaning Original Scripture, is the holy book of the Sikhs.

Adirondack Mountains are a group of mountains that cover about 30,000 square kilometres in northeastern New York state.

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Academy is the general name for a group of people or an organization that promotes art, literature, science, or some other field of knowledge.

Acadia was a region in eastern Canada that became the site of the first European colony in Canada.

Acanthus is a group of shrubs or herbs that grow in Asia, Africa, and southern Europe.

Accent, in language, is a stress placed on a syllable in a word.

Accentor is a bird that looks like a bunting with a thin bill.

Acclimatization is the way in which an organism adjusts to changes in its environment (surroundings).

Accomplice, in law, is a person who participates with someone else in a crime, whether by planning it, carrying out the criminal act itself, or as an aider or abettor.

Accordion is a reed-type musical instrument worn on straps around the shoulders.

Accountancy is the preparation and analysis of financial records for a commercial company, government, or other organization. (See: Golden rules of accounting)

Acculturation is the process by which cultural traits of one group change through the people’s contact with the culture of another group.

Acerola is the fruit of a bushy tree that grows 3 to 4.5 metres tall.

Acetic acid is an important organic acid and industrial chemical.

Acetone is an important industrial chemical.

Acetylene is a colourless, flammable gas used for welding and for preparing other chemical compounds.

Achaeans were people of ancient Greece who lived in the Peloponnesus (Greece’s southern peninsula), in east-central Greece, and on the islands of Crete, Rhodes, Cephalonia, and Ithaca.

Achilles was one of the greatest heroes of Greek mythology.

Achilles’ tendon is the tendon at the back of the ankle.

Acid is any of a group of chemical compounds with certain similar properties.

Acid rain is a popular term for rain, snow, sleet, or other precipitation that has been polluted by such acids as sulphuric acid and nitric acid.

Acidosis is a condition in which the body fluids have a higher acid content than normal.

Acne is a skin disorder that occurs most commonly among teenagers.

Aconcagua is an extinct volcano and the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere.

Aconite is the name of a group of attractive plants that belong to the buttercup family.

Acorn is the nut produced by any of the various kinds of oak trees.

Acoustics is the science and technology of sound and of its effect on people.

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