| Abscam |
in the United States, an FBI investigation in 1978-80, as a result of which several members of Congress were indicted for taking bribes from FBI agents posing as Arab businessmen. |
| apostle |
(sometimes cap.) one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ who were sent forth to spread his teachings. [1/3 definitions] |
| Archean |
of, relating to, or designating the earlier of two geological periods of the Precambrian Era, ending approximately 2.5 billion years ago, during which highly crystalline igneous and metamorphic rocks were formed; Early Precambrian; Archeozoic; azoic. [1/2 definitions] |
| arena |
the center area of a Roman amphitheater where contests and performances were held. [1/4 definitions] |
| Beat Generation |
(sometimes l.c.) used to characterize some members of the generation that reached maturity in the late 1950s, esp. in the United States, who were alienated from conventional society and who promoted experimentation in artistic and literary forms. |
| Bloody Sunday |
March 7, 1965, the day on which American civil rights activists, led by John Lewis and others, marched onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama and were beaten and tear-gassed by waiting police officers and deputies on the other side. |
| burial ground |
a place where ancient or primitive civilizations buried their dead, or a place where many soldiers were buried after a battle. |
| Cambrian |
of, relating to, or designating the geological period at the start of the Paleozoic Era, from approximately 600 million to 500 million years ago, when marine animals such as trilobites were in abundance. [1/2 definitions] |
| celestial pole |
either of two points in the celestial sphere that the earth's axis would intersect if it were extended. |
| Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 |
an act signed into law in 1882 that barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. for a period of ten years and, in addition, prohibited all Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens. Immigrants from China were not permitted naturalized citizenship until 1943. |
| chlorofluorocarbon |
any of a group of compounds containing carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, which were once commonly used as refrigerants, solvents, and aerosol propellants but are now being phased out as they contribute to ozone depletion (abbreviated CFC.) |
| chummy |
(informal) in a close, friendly relationship, or acting as if one were or wished to be in such a relationship. |
| codpiece |
a pouch or flap attached to the front of men's tight-fitting breeches or hose that concealed the crotch. Codpieces were typically used in the fifteen and sixteenth centuries in Europe. |
| colorization |
the process by which color is added to motion picture images that were originally filmed in black and white. |
| condescend |
to act as if one were of superior rank or station, treating others as inferior; patronize. [1/2 definitions] |
| Confucius |
a Chinese philosopher whose ethical teachings were introduced into Chinese religion; K'ung Fu-tzu (551?-479? B.C.). |
| constructivism |
an early twentieth-century art movement, originating in the Soviet Union, in which industrial materials were used to create massive nonrepresentational works. |
| contraband |
during the American Civil War, a slave under the Confederacy who fled to or was taken into territory occupied by Union forces. Such fugitive slaves were, in a sense, free, in that they were not returned by the Union to Confederate slave owners. Instead, however, they were declared captured enemy war materials, or "contraband of war." Thousands of contrabands worked as paid, though exploited, laborers for the Union. [1/5 definitions] |
| Cossack |
a member of any of various tribes of southwestern Russia, many of whom were renowned horsemen in the czars' armies. |
| could |
used to express ability or possibility in the present or in the future under the condition that something else were to happen or were true. [1/4 definitions] |
| court of appeals |
(sometimes cap.) a state or federal court, to which requests for case reviews or retrials are presented, that decides whether the rulings and judgment of the court below were correct or not; appellate court. |