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capping the rhyme (word game)
a game in which one player gave a word or line of verse to be matched in rhyme by other players. Thus, one said, “I know a word that rhymes with bird.” A second asked, “Is it ridiculous?” “No, it is not absurd.” “Is it a part of speech?” “No, it is not a word.” This proceeded until the right word was guessed. Under the name of t...
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capping the T (naval formation)
A positional advantage could be added to this firepower advantage if the fleet “crossed the T” of the enemy, that is, if its own column crossed in front of the enemy column at a right angle and with the ships at the head of the enemy column within range of its guns. From this position at the top of the T, all the guns of the fleet could fire upon the head of the enemy column, while.....
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Capponi, Gino, Marchese (Italian historian and statesman)
historian, statesman, and leader of liberalism in Tuscany who played an extremely influential role in the rise of the Risorgimento. His salon in Florence was long a centre for the leading liberal thinkers of Europe....
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Cappuccilli, Piero (Italian singer)
Italian operatic baritone (b. Nov. 9, 1926, Trieste, Italy—d. July 12, 2005, Trieste), enjoyed a 35-year career during which he was widely regarded as the leading Italian baritone of his generation; he was particularly known for his tendency to insert unwritten high notes into his performances. Cappuccilli’s official debut was at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan in 1957 as Tonio in Ruggero ...
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Capra (mammal)
any ruminant and hollow-horned mammal belonging to the genus Capra. Related to the sheep, the goat is lighter of build, has horns that arch backward, a short tail, and straighter hair. Male goats, called rams or billys, usually have a beard. Females are called does or nannys, and immature goats are called kids. Wild goats include the ibex and m...
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Capra aegagrus (mammal)
Domesticated goats are descended from the pasang (Capra aegagrus), which is probably native to Asia, the earliest records being Persian. In China, Great Britain, Europe, and North America the domestic goat is primarily a milk producer, with a large portion of the milk being used to make cheese. One or two goats will supply sufficient milk for a family throughout the year and can be......
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Capra falconeri (mammal)
large wild goat of the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), formerly found throughout the mountains from Kashmir and Turkistan to Afghanistan but now greatly reduced in population and range. The flare-horned markhor (C. f. falconeri) occurs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India; t...
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Capra, Frank (American film director)
American motion-picture director best known for a series of gently satiric and sentimental situation comedies during the 1930s and ’40s....
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Capra ibex (mammal)
...is also found. Animal life is protected, except during a brief annual hunting season. Alpine tourists may observe marmots, which live in the high meadows, and chamois. Large herds of the round ibex, which had died out in the Swiss Alps and has since been reintroduced, populate several areas, especially in the Bernina region of Graubünden (canton) and in the Saastal of Valais. In the......
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Capra ibex ibex (mammal)
...is also found. Animal life is protected, except during a brief annual hunting season. Alpine tourists may observe marmots, which live in the high meadows, and chamois. Large herds of the round ibex, which had died out in the Swiss Alps and has since been reintroduced, populate several areas, especially in the Bernina region of Graubünden (canton) and in the Saastal of Valais. In the......
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Capra ibex sibirica (mammal)
Well-adapted species of wildlife are found throughout the mountains. The Siberian ibex and the markhor (both wild goats) negotiate the high crags, while Marco Polo sheep and urial (another wild sheep) occasionally are found in the high pamir. Black and brown bears still exist in isolated valleys, and the Chitral valley wildlife preserve is a domain of the rare snow leopard. The rich......
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Capra ibex walie (mammal)
Uniquely Ethiopian and among the most endangered species are the walia ibex of the Simen Mountains, the mountain nyala (a kind of antelope), the Simien jackal, and the gelada monkey. They are found in the Western and Eastern Highlands in numbers ranging from a few hundred for the walia ibex to a......
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Capra, Villa (villa, Vicenza, Italy)
...or the estate headquarters of a gentleman farmer. Included in the former category are the least typical and most widely copied of Palladio’s villa designs, the villa for Giulio Capra, called the Villa Rotonda, near Vicenza. This was a hilltop belvedere, or summer house, with a view, of completely symmetrical plan with hexastyle, or porticoes on each of four sides and central circular hal...
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Capraia Island (island, Italy)
(from capra, “wild goat”), island of the Arcipelago Toscano, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, between the Italian mainland and the north point of Corsica. Capraia, mountainous and volcanic, rising to 1,467 feet (447 metres), produces wine and is a centre of anchovy fishing. About one-third of its area has been occupied since 1872 by an agricultural penal colony. The village and port of ...
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Caprara, Giovanni Battista (Italian diplomat)
Roman Catholic churchman and diplomat who negotiated between the Vatican and Napoleon Bonaparte....
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Capraria (island, Italy)
(from capra, “wild goat”), island of the Arcipelago Toscano, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, between the Italian mainland and the north point of Corsica. Capraia, mountainous and volcanic, rising to 1,467 feet (447 metres), produces wine and is a centre of anchovy fishing. About one-third of its area has been occupied since 1872 by an agricultural penal colony. The village and port of ...
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Capreae (island, Italy)
island near the southern entrance to the Bay of Naples, Campania regione (region), southern Italy; it lies opposite the Sorrento peninsula, to which it was joined in prehistoric times. The island is a single block of limestone 3.9 miles (6.25 km) long, with a maximum width of 1.8 miles and an area of 4 square miles (10 square km), rising to 1,932 feet (589 m...
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Caprellidae (crustacean)
any of certain marine crustaceans of the family Caprellidae (order Amphipoda), particularly of the genera Caprella and Aeginella. The common name derives from the slender body structure. Most species are predators on other small animals, but some feed on organic debris....
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Capreolus capreolus (mammal)
(Capreolus capreolus), Eurasian deer, family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla), found in small family groups in lightly forested regions. When alarmed, the roe deer barks like a dog. A nimble animal, it often tramples the underbrush during the mating season, leaving identifiable circular or figure eight tracks. The female bears one or two spotted young; the gestation period is usually extended ...
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Capréolus, Jean (Dominican scholar)
Dominican scholar whose Four Books of Defenses of the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas (written 1409–33), generally known as the Defensiones, contributed to a revival of Thomistic theology and won for the author the sobriquet Prince of the Thomists. He began the project while lecturing at the University of Paris, where he later (1411, 1415) took degrees in theology. After some t...
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Caprera Island (island, Italy)
island in the Tyrrhenian Sea (of the Mediterranean) off northeastern Sardinia, Italy. Administratively part of La Maddalena comune (commune), it has an area of 6 square miles (16 square km) and is connected by causeway with the adjacent island of Maddalena. The Italian nationalist leader Giuse...
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Capri (people)
...the Great, whom he admired greatly, and embarked on an active external policy. He fought successfully against the Teutonic tribes of the upper Danube, among whom the Alamanni, as well as the Capri of the middle Danube, appeared for the first time; he often prudently mixed military operations with negotiation and gave important subsidies and money (in sound currency) to the barbarians,......
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Capri, Island of (island, Italy)
island near the southern entrance to the Bay of Naples, Campania regione (region), southern Italy; it lies opposite the Sorrento peninsula, to which it was joined in prehistoric times. The island is a single block of limestone 3.9 miles (6.25 km) long, with a maximum width of 1.8 miles and an area of 4 square miles (10 square km), rising to 1,932 feet (589 m...
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Capri, Isola di (island, Italy)
island near the southern entrance to the Bay of Naples, Campania regione (region), southern Italy; it lies opposite the Sorrento peninsula, to which it was joined in prehistoric times. The island is a single block of limestone 3.9 miles (6.25 km) long, with a maximum width of 1.8 miles and an area of 4 square miles (10 square km), rising to 1,932 feet (589 m...
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Capri Letters, The (work by Soldati)
...noia (1960; “The Tedium”; Eng. trans. Empty Canvas) stand out as particular achievements. Soldati, in works such as Le lettere da Capri (1953; The Capri Letters) and Le due città (1964; “The Two Cities”)—and in a later novel, L’incendio (1981; “The Fire”),...
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Capriati, Jennifer (American athlete)
In 2001 American tennis player Jennifer Capriati served up one of the greatest comeback stories in sports as she won her first Grand Slam singles titles, the Australian Open and the French Open. Though such success had once been predicted for the former child prodigy, personal problems, including burnout and alleged drug use, had seemingly ended her career....
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Capriati, Jennifer Maria (American athlete)
In 2001 American tennis player Jennifer Capriati served up one of the greatest comeback stories in sports as she won her first Grand Slam singles titles, the Australian Open and the French Open. Though such success had once been predicted for the former child prodigy, personal problems, including burnout and alleged drug use, had seemingly ended her career....
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capric acid (chemistry)
...is an important component of cow’s milk. Goat’s milk is rich in fats containing the 6-, 8-, and 10-carbon acids: hexanoic (caproic), octanoic (caprylic), and decanoic (capric) acids, respectively. Common names for these three acids are derived from the Latin caper, meaning “goat.” Some hard cheeses (e.g., Swiss cheese) contain natural......
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“Capricci” (works by Paganini)
Between 1801 and 1807 he wrote the 24 Capricci for unaccompanied violin, displaying the novel features of his technique, and the two sets of six sonatas for violin and guitar. He reappeared in Italy as a violinist in 1805 and was appointed director of music at Piombino by Napoleon’s sister, Élisa Bonaparte Baciocchi. He later gave recitals of his own compositions in man...
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Capriccio (work by Strauss)
...some writers have called Strauss’s masterpiece; and Arabella (1933), which closely resembles Der Rosenkavalier in many details. Capriccio (1942), his last opera, is an absorbing work that reanimates the old argument of whether words or music should take precedence in opera....
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capriccio (music)
lively, loosely structured musical composition that is often humorous in character. As early as the 16th century the term was occasionally applied to canzonas, fantasias, and ricercari (often modelled on vocal imitative polyphony). Baroque composers from Girolamo Frescobaldi to J.S. Bach wrote keyboard capriccios displaying strictly fugal as well as whimsical characteristics. Ba...
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capriccio (graphic arts)
...prison interiors, however, are examples of vedute ideate, which are realistically drawn though completely imaginary scenes. Guardi and Canaletto produced another form of veduta, the capriccio, in which architectural elements, though correct, are combined in a rather strange fashion—e.g., Canaletto’s drawing in which St. Peter’s in Rome is shown r...
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Capriccio (work by Bach)
...century the term was occasionally applied to canzonas, fantasias, and ricercari (often modelled on vocal imitative polyphony). Baroque composers from Girolamo Frescobaldi to J.S. Bach wrote keyboard capriccios displaying strictly fugal as well as whimsical characteristics. Bach’s earliest dated keyboard work is his Capriccio “on the Departure of His Beloved Brother,”...
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Capriccio sinfonico (work by Puccini)
...and Amilcare Ponchielli, the composer of the opera La gioconda. On July 16, 1883, he received his diploma and presented as his graduation composition Capriccio sinfonico, an instrumental work that attracted the attention of influential musical circles in Milan. In the same year, he entered Le villi in a competitio...
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Caprichos, Los (work by Goya)
Francisco de Goya is hard to place in the historical development of the comedy of manners. His “Caprichos” (1796–98), etchings prepared by some of the most simple and trenchant brush drawings ever made, appeared in the last years of the 18th century and can be called comedies of manners only insofar as they are related to folk sayings and the bittersweet Spanish folk wisdom......
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Capricorn (astronomy)
in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying between Aquarius and Sagittarius, at about 21 hours right ascension (the coordinate on the celestial sphere analogous to longitude on the Earth) and 20° south declination (angular distance south of the celestial equator). Its stars are faint....
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Capricorn, Tropic of (geography)
latitudes approximately 23°27′ N and 23°27′ S of the terrestrial Equator, respectively. These latitudes correspond to the northernmost and southernmost declinations of the Sun’s ecliptic (q.v.) to the celestial equator. At the summer solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere), around June 21, the Sun attains its greatest declination north and is directly over t...
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Capricorn-Bunker Group (island group, Australia)
cluster of 13 islands at the southern extremity of the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, on the Tropic of Capricorn between Capricorn Channel and Keppel Bay. They are true coral cays, comprising sandy detritus on coral platforms with typical screw-pine vegetation. Sparsely populated, the main islands (Heron, One Tree, Wreck, and North West) are used primarily as to...
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Capricornia (work by Herbert)
...culture: this discovery gave rise to the Jindyworobak movement, which had as its goal the freeing of Australian art from “alien” influences. By apt coincidence, Xavier Herbert’s Capricornia (1938) was published at this time. Herbert’s sprawling comic anarchy, his maverick vision, and the sense of remoteness from regulated society all derive from his Nort...
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Capricornis (mammal)
goatlike mammal that ranges from Japan and Taiwan to western India, through eastern China, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan region. Serows belong either to the tribe Rupicaprini (goat antelopes) or, according to another view, to their own tribe (Naemorhedini), of the subfamily Caprinae (family Bovidae, order Artiodactyla)...
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Capricornus (astronomy)
in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying between Aquarius and Sagittarius, at about 21 hours right ascension (the coordinate on the celestial sphere analogous to longitude on the Earth) and 20° south declination (angular distance south of the celestial equator). Its stars are faint....
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caprifig (plant)
...staminate (male) or pistillate (female). Long-styled female flowers are characteristic of the fruits of most garden and orchard fig trees. Short-styled female flowers are found only in fruits of the caprifig tree and are adapted to the egg-laying habits of the fig wasp, or Blastophaga. Male flowers, which produce pollen, are found in caprifigs, usually near the apex....
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Caprifoliaceae (plant family)
the honeysuckle family of the teasel order (Dipsacales), well known for its many ornamental shrubs and vines, primarily composed of north temperate species but including some tropical mountain plants. The family has 5 genera and 220 species, mostly woody shrubs and vines. One member of the family, Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), is a fragrant flowering vine that...
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Caprilli, Federico (Italian equestrian)
At the turn of the 20th century, Capt. Federico Caprilli, an Italian cavalry instructor, made a thorough study of the psychology and mechanics of locomotion of the horse. He completely revolutionized the established system by innovating the forward seat, a position and style of riding in which the rider’s weight is centred forward in the saddle, over the horse’s withers. Caprilli wro...
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Caprimulgi (bird suborder)
...covering) and subterminal tooth, surrounded by long vibrissae; bronchial syrinx; 15 cervical vertebrae. 1 species, length 40 cm (about 16 inches).Suborder CaprimulgiDorsal vertebrae heterocoelous (saddle-shaped); deeply cleft gape; rostrum fixed; plumage soft.Family Podargidae......
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Caprimulgidae (bird family)
...powder down patches on sides and breast; no oil gland; 1 carotid artery (left). One genus, 7 species, length 20–55 cm (about 8–22 inches).Family Caprimulgidae (nighthawks, nightjars)Worldwide in tropical and temperate zones; absent from northernmost Eurasia and America, southernmost ...
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caprimulgiform (order of birds)
any of about 120 species of soft-plumaged birds, the major groups of which are called nightjars, nighthawks, potoos, frogmouths, and owlet-frogmouths. The order also includes the aberrant oilbird of South America. Most are twilight- or night-flying birds. Many produc...
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Caprimulgiformes (order of birds)
any of about 120 species of soft-plumaged birds, the major groups of which are called nightjars, nighthawks, potoos, frogmouths, and owlet-frogmouths. The order also includes the aberrant oilbird of South America. Most are twilight- or night-flying birds. Many produc...
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Caprimulginae (bird)
any of about 60 to 70 species of birds that make up the subfamily Caprimulginae of the family Caprimulgidae and sometimes extended to include the nighthawks, subfamily Chordeilinae (see nighthawk). The name nightjar is sometimes applied to the entire order Caprimulgiformes. (See caprimulgiform.)...
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Caprimulgus (bird)
...strange, or weirdly beautiful. The calls of caprimulgiforms are surrounded by an aura of mystery richly endowed to elicit interest and sometimes fear from humans. The name of the type genus Caprimulgus, goatsucker, derives from an ancient belief that the birds seen flitting about the goats at dusk were taking milk from the goats’ udders, a misconception no doubt fortified by the.....
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Caprimulgus carolinensis (bird)
(species Caprimulgus carolinensis), nocturnal bird of the family Caprimulgidae, found in the swamps, rocky uplands, and pine woods of the southeastern United States, migrating to the West Indies, Central America, and northwestern South America. This nightjar is named for its call (second and third syllables accented, first syllable weak), which it may repeat 800 times without stopping. It ...
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Caprimulgus europaeus (bird)
The common nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus; see photograph) is representative of some 35 similar species making up the largest genus in the order Caprimulgiformes. It is characterized by its flat head, wide mouth fringed with bristles, large eyes, and soft plumage that results in noiseless flight. About 30 cm (12 inches) long, it breeds throughout Europe and in western Asia, wintering in......
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Caprimulgus inornatus (bird)
...(Macrodipteryx longipennis), which nests in a belt extending from Senegal in the west to Kenya in the east along the equatorial forest, migrates northward to avoid the wet season. The plain nightjar (Caprimulgus inornatus), on the other hand, nests in a dry belt from Mali in the west to the Red Sea and Kenya in the east during the rains and then migrates southward to......
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Caprimulgus vociferus (bird)
(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 call (first and third syllables accented), which it may repeat 400 times without stopping. It lives in woods near open country, where it hawks for i...
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Caprini, Palazzo (palace, Rome, Italy)
Another noteworthy design was that of the Palazzo Caprini (House of Raphael; later destroyed) in the Borgo, which became the model for many 16th-century palaces. This palazzo was later acquired by Raphael. According to Vasari, Bramante, about 1509, had designed the architectural background for the School of Athens by Raphael (1508–11; Vatican, Rome), and......
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capriole (gait)
...cadenced, high-stepping trot; the levade, in which the horse raises and draws in its forelegs, standing balanced on its bent hind legs; the courvet (courbette), a jump forward at the levade; and the capriole, in which the horse jumps straight upward, with its forelegs drawn in, kicking back with its hind legs horizontal, and lands again in the same spot from which it took off....
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Caprioli, Carlo (Italian composer and musician)
Italian composer, violinist, and organist, considered by Angelo Berardi and others to be one of the best composers of cantatas of his time....
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Capriolo, Paola (Italian author)
...of Edgar Allan Poe lives on in the precisely related but arcane and enigmatic tales of La grande Eulalia (1988; “The Great Eulalia”), the first of many successful books by Paola Capriolo. Best-selling and widely translated author Susanna Tamaro achieved overnight commercial success with the sentimental Va’ dove ti porta il cuore (1994; Follow...
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Capris (Slovenia)
seaport in Slovenia, just southwest of Trieste (Italy). Formerly an island in the Adriatic Sea, it was connected to the mainland by a causeway (1825) and drainage works. It was known to the Romans as Capris (3rd century bc–6th century ad). From 932 until 1797 Koper was linked to the Venetian Republic, and in 1186 it became a ...
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Caprivi, Georg Leo, Graf von (German chancellor)
distinguished soldier who was Bismarck’s successor as Germany’s imperial chancellor during 1890–94....
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Caprivi, Leo, Graf von (German chancellor)
distinguished soldier who was Bismarck’s successor as Germany’s imperial chancellor during 1890–94....
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Caprivi Strip (region, Namibia)
long, narrow extension of Namibia, running about 280 miles (450 km) from the northeast corner of the main block of the country eastward to the Zambezi River. Its width varies from about 20 to 65 miles (32 to 105 km). The physical geography of the region is an extremely flat plain, about 3,100 feet (950 m) in elevation lying on the swampy northern margin of the Kalahari, mostly between the Zambezi ...
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Caprivi Zipfel (region, Namibia)
long, narrow extension of Namibia, running about 280 miles (450 km) from the northeast corner of the main block of the country eastward to the Zambezi River. Its width varies from about 20 to 65 miles (32 to 105 km). The physical geography of the region is an extremely flat plain, about 3,100 feet (950 m) in elevation lying on the swampy northern margin of the Kalahari, mostly between the Zambezi ...
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Caprock Escarpment (geological feature, Texas, United States)
geological feature, Texas, U.S., that forms a natural transition between the High Plains (west) and the western edge of the North Central Plains (east). It forms the eastern border of the semiarid Llano Estacado (Spanish: “Staked Plain”) and is a prominent feature of Borden, Briscoe, Crosby, Dickens, Floyd, and Motley counties,...
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caproic acid (chemical compound)
...milk fats. Butanoic (butyric) acid, CH3CH2CH2COOH, is an important component of cow’s milk. Goat’s milk is rich in fats containing the 6-, 8-, and 10-carbon acids: hexanoic (caproic), octanoic (caprylic), and decanoic (capric) acids, respectively. Common names for these three acids are derived from the Latin caper, meaning “goat....
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Caproidae (fish)
(family Caproidae), any of six species of fishes (order Zeiformes) characterized by red coloration and a laterally compressed body that is as high as it is long. All six species live in deep marine waters, occurring in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The two genera, Antigonia and Capros, are placed in different subfamilies. A typical species, A. capros, reach...
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Caprolagus hispidus (mammal)
...the terms rabbit and hare are used interchangeably, a practice that can cause confusion— jackrabbits, for instance, are actually hares, whereas the rockhares and the hispid hare are rabbits....
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Caproli, Carlo (Italian composer and musician)
Italian composer, violinist, and organist, considered by Angelo Berardi and others to be one of the best composers of cantatas of his time....
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Capromyidae (rodent)
any of 26 living and recently extinct species of Caribbean rodents. The surviving species of hutia are short-limbed and stout and have a large head, small eyes and ears, prominent claws, and long whiskers. Size ranges from the rat-sized dwarf hutia (Mesocapromys nanus), with a body length of 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches), to the raccoon-sized Desmarest’s Cub...
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Capromys pilorides (rodent)
...and ears, prominent claws, and long whiskers. Size ranges from the rat-sized dwarf hutia (Mesocapromys nanus), with a body length of 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches), to the raccoon-sized Desmarest’s Cuban hutia (Capromys pilorides), with a body 32 to 60 cm long and weight of up to 8.5 kg (19 pounds). The tail ranges from very short and inconspicuous in Brown...
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Caproni (Italian bomber)
Italy, too, was quick to appreciate the value of bombing attacks on enemy targets. Its big three-engined, twin-tailboom Capronis were among the finest bombers of World War I (see photograph). Even larger were the Russian Ilya Muromets bombers of the tsar’s Squadron of Flying Ships. Designed by Igor Sikorsky, now remembered mainly as a helicopter pioneer, these biplanes spanned about 100 fee...
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Caproni, Giorgio (Italian poet)
Italian poet whose extensive body of work was largely collected in Tutti le poesie (1983; “All the Poems”)....
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Capros (fish genus)
...a laterally compressed body that is as high as it is long. All six species live in deep marine waters, occurring in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The two genera, Antigonia and Capros, are placed in different subfamilies. A typical species, A. capros, reaches a length of about 18 cm (7 inches)....
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caprylic acid (chemical compound)
...(butyric) acid, CH3CH2CH2COOH, is an important component of cow’s milk. Goat’s milk is rich in fats containing the 6-, 8-, and 10-carbon acids: hexanoic (caproic), octanoic (caprylic), and decanoic (capric) acids, respectively. Common names for these three acids are derived from the Latin caper, meaning “goat.” Some hard cheese...
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Caps (political party, Sweden)
During this period a dual-party system evolved; the parties were known by the nicknames “Nightcaps” (or “Caps”) and “Hats.” Both parties were mercantilist, but the Nightcaps were the more prudent. Up to 1738 the Nightcaps were in power. They led a most careful foreign policy so as not to provoke Russia. From 1738 to 1765 power passed to the Hats, who made....
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Capsa (Tunisia)
town situated in west-central Tunisia. The ancient name of the locality is applied to the Mesolithic Capsian industry (locally dated about 6250 bce) of the earliest inhabitants. The original Numidian town was destroyed (106 bce) by the Romans; it was rebuilt later by Trajan and was then successively a centre of By...
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capsaicin (chemical compound)
the most abundant of the pungent principles of the red pepper (Capsicum). It is an organic nitrogen compound belonging to the lipid group, but it is often erroneously classed among the alkaloids, a family of nitrogenous compounds with marked physiological effects....
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capsaicine (chemical compound)
the most abundant of the pungent principles of the red pepper (Capsicum). It is an organic nitrogen compound belonging to the lipid group, but it is often erroneously classed among the alkaloids, a family of nitrogenous compounds with marked physiological effects....
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Capsella bursa-pastoris (plant)
(Capsella bursa-pastoris), weed, of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), worldwide in distribution, but native to the Mediterranean region. This widespread lawn and roadside weed, most conspicuous in the spring, is distinguished for its flat, heart-shaped, green fruits that are borne along the inflorescence stalks. The terminal clusters of tiny, four-petalled flowers are white. Below the seed...
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Capsian industry
a Mesolithic (8000 bc–2700 bc) cultural complex prominent in the inland areas of North Africa. Its most characteristic sites are in the area of the great salt lakes of what is now southern Tunisia, the type site being Jabal al-Maqṭaʿ, near Qafṣah (Capsa, French Gafsa). Although the tool kit of the Capsian is a classic example of the industri...
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Capsicum (Capsicum)
(Capsicum), any of a great number of plants of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, notably Capsicum annuum, C. frutescens, and C. boccatum, extensively cultivated throughout tropical Asia and equatorial America for their edible, pungent fruits. Peppers, which have been found in prehistoric remains in Peru, were widely grown in Central and South America in pre-Columbian times. ...
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Capsicum annuum (shrub)
...and drug plants. Among the most important of these are the potato (Solanum tuberosum); eggplant (S. melongena); tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum); garden, or capsicum, pepper (Capsicum annuum and C. frutescens); tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum); deadly nightshade, the source of belladonna (Atropa belladonna); the poisonous jimsonweed (Datura......
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Capsicum frutescens (pepper)
hot red pepper, a variety of Capsicum frutescens of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family. See pepper....
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capsid (virus)
...the virion. It contains at least one unique protein synthesized by specific genes in the nucleic acid of that virus. In virtually all viruses, at least one of these proteins forms a shell (called a capsid) around the nucleic acid. Certain viruses also have other proteins internal to the capsid; some of these proteins act as enzymes, often during the synthesis of viral nucleic acids. Viroids......
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capsomere (virology)
...by exposure to fat solvents such as ether and chloroform. Many virions are spheroidal—actually icosahedral—the capsid having 20 triangular faces, with regularly arranged units called capsomeres, two to five or more along each side; and the nucleic acid is densely coiled within. Other virions have a capsid consisting of an irregular number of surface spikes and the nucleic acid......
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capstan (mechanical device)
mechanical device used chiefly on board ships or in shipyards for moving heavy weights by means of ropes, cables, or chains. Capstans also have been used in railroad yards for spotting (positioning) freight cars. A capstan consists of a drum, driven either manually or by steam or electricity, that rotates about a vertical axis to wind in a line (rope, cable, or chain) that has been wrapped around...
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capsular ligament
There are two types of these sets: capsular and noncapsular. Capsular ligaments are simply thickenings of the fibrous capsule itself that take the form of either elongated bands or triangles, the fibres of which radiate from a small area of one articulating bone to a line upon its mating fellow. The iliofemoral ligament of the hip joint is an example of a triangular ligament. Capsular ligaments......
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capsular urine (physiology)
The mechanism of urine formation involves three processes: filtration, reabsorption, and secretion. Primary urine is formed by filtration from the blood. From this primary urine certain substances are reabsorbed into the blood and other substances are secreted into the primary urine from the blood. The word secretion is used by renal physiologists to imply transport, other than by filtration,......
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capsule (pharmacology)
Capsules are another common oral dosage form. Like tablets, capsules almost always contain inert ingredients to facilitate manufacture. There are two general types of capsules—hard gelatin capsules and soft gelatin capsules. Hard gelatin capsules are by far the most common type. They can be filled with powder, granules, or pellets. In some cases they are filled with a small capsule plus......
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capsule (in prokaryote)
Many bacterial cells secrete some extracellular material in the form of a capsule or a slime layer. A slime layer is loosely associated with the bacterium and can be easily washed off, whereas a capsule is attached tightly to the bacterium and has definite boundaries. Capsules can be seen under a light microscope by placing the cells in a suspension of India ink. The capsules exclude the ink......
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capsule (plant)
in botany, dry fruit that opens when ripe. It splits from apex to base into separate segments known as valves, as in the iris, or forms pores at the top (poppy), or splits around the circumference, with the top falling off (pigweed and plantain). The spore-forming organ of liverworts and mosses also is called a capsule. ...
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capsule pipeline (technology)
Capsule pipelines transport freight in capsules propelled by a fluid moving through a pipeline. When the fluid is air or another gas, the technology is called pneumatic capsule pipeline (PCP), and, when water or another liquid is used, it is termed hydraulic capsule pipeline (HCP). Owing to the low density of air, capsules in PCP cannot be suspended by air at ordinary speeds. Instead, the......
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Capsule Pipeline Research Center (United States project)
...extensive investigation in Canada at the Alberta Research Council during 1958–75. Interest in this new technology soon spread to many other nations. In 1991, the United States established a Capsule Pipeline Research Center at the University of Missouri in Columbia, jointly funded by industry and government....
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captacula (anatomy)
...mantle and breathe through the body surface. At the anterior (front), larger end of the shell is an extensible foot adapted for digging and an imperfectly developed head with slender tentacles, the captacula, that serve as sensory and food-catching organs. The anterior end is usually buried in the sea bottom. The posterior end admits water for respiration and discharges wastes. Tusk shells feed...
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captaculum (anatomy)
...mantle and breathe through the body surface. At the anterior (front), larger end of the shell is an extensible foot adapted for digging and an imperfectly developed head with slender tentacles, the captacula, that serve as sensory and food-catching organs. The anterior end is usually buried in the sea bottom. The posterior end admits water for respiration and discharges wastes. Tusk shells feed...
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captain (army rank)
a rank in the military and maritime service, and the highest-ranking company officer. In most armies and in some air forces, a captain is the commander of the largest group of soldiers that an officer can be expected to know personally—a company in the infantry, a battery in the artillery, a flight in the air force....
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captain (rank)
a rank in the military and maritime service, and the highest-ranking company officer. In most armies and in some air forces, a captain is the commander of the largest group of soldiers that an officer can be expected to know personally—a company in the infantry, a battery in the artillery, a flight in the air force....
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captain (naval rank)
On the sea a captain is usually the commander of a large warship—a cruiser, battleship, or aircraft carrier in the navy and any sizable ship in the mercantile marine service. In the British and U.S. navies the rank corresponds to the army rank of colonel, as does group captain in the Royal Air Force. An officer of lower rank is customarily given the courtesy title of captain when he is in.....
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Captain America (American comic-book character)
American comic-book hero whose iconic red, white, and blue costume belies the complex ideology he came to reflect....
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Captain Beefheart (American musician)
innovative American avant-garde rock and blues singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. Performing with the shifting lineup of musicians known as His Magic Band, Captain Beefheart produced a series of albums from the 1960s to the ’80s that had limited commercial appeal but were a major influence on punk and experimental rock....
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