• Curran, John Philpot (Irish statesman)

    John Philpot Curran was an Irish lawyer and statesman who is remembered as a great advocate and as a champion of Irish liberties. Although handicapped by small stature and a speech impediment, he soon became celebrated for his quick wit and courage in defending apparently hopeless cases. Though not

  • currant (shrub)

    currant, any of a number of flowering shrubs of the genus Ribes (family Grossulariaceae) and their edible fruits. The piquant juicy berries are used chiefly in jams and jellies and can be eaten fresh or dried. Several species are grown as garden ornamentals. Currants are natives of temperate

  • currant borer (insect)

    clearwing moth: The currant borer (Synanthedon tipuliformis) is the most widely distributed species of the family. Originating in Europe, it is now found in Asia, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It is a serious pest of currants, gooseberries, black alders, and sumacs. The larvae overwinter in the…

  • currant family (shrub family)

    ribes: the gooseberries, constituting the family Grossulariaceae. They are native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, extending southward in the Americas into the Andes. Some authorities formerly separated the gooseberries as the genus Grossularia. The tart fruits of both groups are used in cooking and baking, and several species…

  • currant tomato (fruit)

    tomato: Physical description and cultivation: The tiny currant tomato (S. pimpinellifolium) is a closely related species and has been used by breeders to hybridize several pest- and disease-resistant tomato varieties.

  • currawong (bird)

    currawong, any of several songbirds of the Australian family Cracticidae (order Passeriformes). They are large, up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) long, with black, gray, or black-and-white plumage and yellow eyes. All have resounding, metallic voices. Found in woodlands and occasionally flocking

  • Curren, Kevin (South African tennis player)

    Boris Becker: …the finals, where he defeated Kevin Curren in four sets. Excelling on the fast grass surface, he won Wimbledon again in 1986 and 1989 and was a finalist there in 1988, 1990, 1991, and 1995. He won the Australian Open twice (1991, 1996) and the U.S. Open (1989). In international…

  • currency (economics)

    currency, in industrialized nations, portion of the national money supply, consisting of bank notes and government-issued paper money and coins, that does not require endorsement in serving as a medium of exchange; among less developed societies, currency encompasses a wide diversity of items

  • Currency Act (Great Britain [1764])

    United States: The tax controversy: …economic prospects by passing a Currency Act (1764) to withdraw paper currencies, many of them surviving from the war period, from circulation. This was not done to restrict economic growth so much as to take out currency that was thought to be unsound, but it did severely reduce the circulating…

  • Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act (United States [1970])

    Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. legislation, signed into law in 1970 by Pres. Richard Nixon, that requires banks and other financial entities in the United States to maintain records and file reports on currency transactions and suspicious activity with the government. The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), sometimes

  • currency board (economics)

    money: After Bretton Woods: …19th-century system known as a currency board. In such a case there is no central bank and the exchange rate is fixed. Local banks increase the number of Hong Kong dollars only when they receive additional U.S. dollars, and they reduce the stock of Hong Kong dollars when U.S. dollar…

  • currency exchange rate (finance)

    exchange rate, the price of a country’s money in relation to another country’s money. An exchange rate is “fixed” when countries use gold or another agreed-upon standard, and each currency is worth a specific measure of the metal or other standard. An exchange rate is “floating” when supply and

  • currency of intervention (economics)

    international payment and exchange: The IMF system of parity (pegged) exchange rates: …it to be called a currency of “intervention.”

  • current (fluid flow)

    jetty: …be narrowed to concentrate the current and thus help maintain a navigable channel. These structures—variously termed spurs, spur dikes, and groins—may also be projected from the concave side of a river to retard bank erosion.

  • current (physics)

    electric current, any movement of electric charge carriers, such as subatomic charged particles (e.g., electrons having negative charge, protons having positive charge), ions (atoms that have lost or gained one or more electrons), or holes (electron deficiencies that may be thought of as positive

  • current account (accounting)

    international payment and exchange: Balance-of-payments accounting: …of accounts used are the current account and the capital account.

  • Current and Historical Droughts Around the World

    Drought is an extended period of rainless weather that causes a considerable water imbalance. This infographic features a map showing current droughts (as of August 2022) by continent: The map also shows major historical droughts by continent: Some of the visible signs of drought are crop damage,

  • current asset (accounting)

    corporate finance: …basic categories of investments are current assets and fixed assets. Current assets include cash, inventory, and accounts receivable. Examples of fixed assets are buildings, real estate, and machinery. In addition, the resource allocation function is concerned with intangible assets such as goodwill, patents, workers, and brand names.

  • current density (physics)

    electromagnetism: Effects of varying electric fields: …the total flux of the current density J through any surface surrounded by the closed path. In Figure 6A, the closed path is labeled P, and a surface S1 is surrounded by path P. All the current density through S1 lies within the conducting wire. The total flux of the…

  • current gain (electronics)

    semiconductor device: Bipolar transistors: The current gain for the common-base configuration is defined as the change in collector current divided by the change in emitter current when the base-to-collector voltage is constant. Typical common-base current gain in a well-designed bipolar transistor is very close to unity. The most useful amplifier…

  • current liability (accounting)

    accounting: The balance sheet: …liabilities are similarly divided into current liabilities and noncurrent liabilities. Most amounts payable to the company’s suppliers (accounts payable), to employees (wages payable), or to governments (taxes payable) are included among the current liabilities. Noncurrent liabilities consist mainly of amounts payable to holders of the company’s long-term bonds and such…

  • current mark (geology)

    sedimentary rock: Deformation structures: Current marks can form by the action of water currents on upper surfaces of the beds or by “tools” (such as wood and fossils) that are transported by currents over soft sediment.

  • current meter (instrument)

    V. Walfrid Ekman: The Ekman current meter, an instrument with a simple and reliable mechanism, has been used, with subsequent improvements, to the present, while the Ekman reversing water bottle is used in freshwater lakes and sometimes in the ocean to obtain water samples at different depths with a simultaneous…

  • current mode (radiation detection)

    radiation measurement: Current mode: One way to provide an electrical signal from such a detector is to connect its output to an ammeter circuit with a slow response time. If this response time is long compared with the average time spacing between current bursts, then the ammeter…

  • current ratio (business)

    business finance: Financial ratio analysis: This is known as a liquidity ratio. Financial leverage ratios (such as the debt–asset ratio and debt as a percentage of total capitalization) are used to make judgments about the advantages to be gained from raising funds by the issuance of bonds (debt) rather than stock. Activity ratios, relating to…

  • Current River (river, United States)

    Current River, river of southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas, U.S. It rises in Montauk Spring in the Ozark Mountains, in Dent county, Missouri, and is fed by the Welch, Cave, Pulltite, Big, Blue, and Round springs as it flows about 225 miles (360 km) generally southeast into the Black

  • Current TV (American company)

    Al Gore: …achievement in interactive television for Current TV, a user-generated-content channel he cofounded in 2005; the channel was sold to Al Jazeera, an Arabic-language cable television news network, in 2013. That year Gore also published The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, which analyzed the impact of various sociopolitical, technological, and…

  • current U.S. governors

    Each U.S. state is headed by a governor who serves as its chief executive. They are directly elected and share certain responsibilities. For instance, all governors implement state laws, pursue a legislative platform, and develop budgets. In addition, the governor acts as the state’s liaison with

  • Current War, The (film by Gomez-Rejon [2019])

    Benedict Cumberbatch: Doctor Strange and The Grinch: …Britain from the European Union; The Current War (completed in 2017 and released two years later), about the contest between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to determine which electrical system would power the United States; and the World War I drama 1917, which was directed by Sam Mendes. Cumberbatch later…

  • current-awareness service (library science)

    library: Current-awareness service: The purpose of a current-awareness service is to inform the users about new acquisitions in their libraries. Public libraries in particular have used display boards and shelves to draw attention to recent additions, and many libraries produce complete or selective lists for circulation…

  • curricle (carriage)

    curricle, open, two-wheeled gentleman’s carriage, popular in England from about 1700 to 1850. It was pulled by two matched horses yoked abreast and was therefore equipped with a pole, rather than shafts. The pole had to be very strong because it both directed the carriage and bore its weight. To

  • curricular validity (examination)

    psychological testing: Primary characteristics of methods or instruments: …simply to see if its content seems appropriate to its intended purpose. Such content validation is widely employed in measuring academic achievement but with recognition of the inevitable role of judgment. Thus, a geometry test exhibits content (or curricular) validity when experts (e.g., teachers) believe that it adequately samples the…

  • curriculum (education)

    multiculturalism: Multiculturalism’s impact on education: …are found in revisions of curricula, particularly in Europe and North America, and the expansion of the Western literary and other canons that began during the last quarter of the 20th century. Curricula from the elementary to the university levels were revised and expanded to include the contributions of minority…

  • curriculum vitae (summary of career)

    curriculum vitae (CV), document that describes an individual’s qualifications and career history and typically constitutes the gateway to a job interview and potential employment. Derived from a Latin phrase that translates as “course of one’s life,” a curriculum vitae, or CV, highlights

  • Currie Cup (rugby trophy)

    rugby: South Africa: …between provincial teams for the Currie Cup, first given in 1891 by Sir Donald Currie.

  • Currie, Brainerd (American legal scholar)

    conflict of laws: Contemporary developments: …by the American legal scholar Brainerd Currie, began to emerge in the 1950s. Currie’s approach sought to determine whether a “true” or “false” conflict exists between the law of the forum state and that of the other involved state. A false conflict exists if the laws of both states do…

  • Currie, Cherie (American singer)

    Joan Jett: The Runaways: …bassist Jackie Fox, and singer Cherie Currie. They named their new band the Runaways, and Fowley served as their manager and producer. Jett played rhythm and lead guitar and sang back-up vocals. She cowrote the band’s debut single, the provocative and confrontational “Cherry Bomb,” which was written for Currie’s band…

  • Currie, Sir Arthur William (Canadian military commander)

    Sir Arthur William Currie was the first Canadian commander, from 1917, of Canada’s overseas forces in World War I. He was one of the most successful and effective corps commanders in any army during the war’s final year. Currie taught school before going into business in Victoria, British Columbia.

  • Currie, Sir Donald (British shipowner and politician)

    Sir Donald Currie was a shipowner and politician, founder of the Castle Line of steamers between England and South Africa, and later head of the amalgamated Union–Castle Line. After a number of years with the Cunard Steamship Line, Currie established the Castle Line of sailing ships between

  • Currie, Steve (British musician)

    T. Rex: Glam rock success: …conga drums and backup vocals, Steve Currie on bass, and Bill Legend on drums, released Electric Warrior, widely held to be the first glam rock album. Produced by Tony Visconti, who was known for his work with David Bowie, the album contained the hit “Get It On,” a glam rock…

  • Currier & Ives (American company)

    Currier & Ives, firm whose lithographs were among the most popular wall hangings in 19th-century America. The prints of Nathaniel Currier (b. March 27, 1813, Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.—d. November 20, 1888, New York, New York) and James Merritt Ives (b. March 5, 1824, New York, New York, U.S.—d.

  • Currier, Nathaniel (American lithographer)

    Currier & Ives: The prints of Nathaniel Currier (b. March 27, 1813, Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.—d. November 20, 1888, New York, New York) and James Merritt Ives (b. March 5, 1824, New York, New York, U.S.—d. January 3, 1895, Rye, New York), which typically depict the history and customs of the American…

  • Curry (county, New Mexico, United States)

    Curry, county, eastern New Mexico, U.S., a farming region in the High Plains, bordered on the east by Texas. It is an extremely flat area, varied only by a few canyons and dry creek beds. Black-Water Draw National Archaeological Site and Cannon Air Force Base are located in the county. The area has

  • curry (food)

    curry, (from Tamil kari: “sauce”), in Western usage, a dish composed with a sauce or gravy seasoned with a mixture of ground spices that is thought to have originated in India and has since spread to many regions of the world. The foundation of many Indian curries is a mixture of onion, ginger, and

  • curry leaf tree (plant)

    curry tree, (Murraya koenigii), flowering plant found in South Asia and Southeast Asia and known for its fragrant leaves, which are used particularly in Indian cuisine. The leaves of the curry tree are not to be confused with curry powder, a dry spice and herb mixture that may or may not include

  • curry tree (plant)

    curry tree, (Murraya koenigii), flowering plant found in South Asia and Southeast Asia and known for its fragrant leaves, which are used particularly in Indian cuisine. The leaves of the curry tree are not to be confused with curry powder, a dry spice and herb mixture that may or may not include

  • Curry, Ann (American journalist, television news reporter and anchor)

    Ann Curry is an American journalist and television news reporter and anchor who was best known for her role as a correspondent on the Today show, a morning news program aired by the National Broadcasting Co. (NBC). Curry was noted especially for her reporting on humanitarian crises in war-torn

  • Curry, Dell (American basketball player)

    New Orleans Pelicans: …guard Muggsy Bogues and sharpshooter Dell Curry, but, like most expansion teams, they won few of their games. The team drafted forward Larry Johnson in 1991 and centre Alonzo Mourning in 1992, and the pair helped Charlotte to its first playoff appearance (and postseason series win) in the 1992–93 season.…

  • Curry, Haskell Brooks (American mathematician)

    Haskell Brooks Curry was an American mathematician and educator whose research in logic led to his theory of formal systems and processes as well as to the formulation of a logical calculus using inferential rules. Curry graduated from Harvard University in 1920 and received postgraduate degrees

  • Curry, John (British figure skater)

    John Curry was an English figure skater who redefined the sport with his elegant balletic style. Known as “the Nureyev of the ice,” he won the gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. (Read Scott Hamilton’s Britannica entry on figure skating.) Curry had an early interest in

  • Curry, John Anthony (British figure skater)

    John Curry was an English figure skater who redefined the sport with his elegant balletic style. Known as “the Nureyev of the ice,” he won the gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. (Read Scott Hamilton’s Britannica entry on figure skating.) Curry had an early interest in

  • Curry, John Steuart (American painter)

    John Steuart Curry was an American painter whose art reflects the social attitudes of the 1930s. Curry studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1918 he started his artistic career as an illustrator of pulp magazines, particularly westerns.

  • Curry, Kid (American outlaw)

    Kid Curry was an American gunslinger who became notorious as the most quick-tempered killer of the Wild Bunch, a group of Western outlaws. His brothers, Lonny and Johnny, also gained reputations as Western badmen, as did their uncle, George Sutherland (“Flat Nose”) Curry. Kid Curry, primarily a

  • Curry, Michael Bruce (American bishop)

    Prince Harry, duke of Sussex: Marriage to Meghan Markle: …power of love, delivered by Michael Bruce Curry, the first African American presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church.

  • Curry, Steph (American basketball player)

    Stephen Curry is an American professional basketball player who led the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to championships in 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, and 2021–22 and to the best regular-season record in league history (73–9) in 2015–16. Curry grew up immersed in

  • Curry, Stephen (American basketball player)

    Stephen Curry is an American professional basketball player who led the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to championships in 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, and 2021–22 and to the best regular-season record in league history (73–9) in 2015–16. Curry grew up immersed in

  • Curry, Tim (British actor and singer)

    Charlie Sheen: Acting stardom in the 1980s and ’90s: Oliver Platt (Porthos), and Tim Curry (Cardinal Richelieu). In 1994 Sheen reprised his role as Vaughn in Major League II.

  • Curry, Wardell Stephen, II (American basketball player)

    Stephen Curry is an American professional basketball player who led the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to championships in 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, and 2021–22 and to the best regular-season record in league history (73–9) in 2015–16. Curry grew up immersed in

  • curse (magic)

    Roman religion: Purpose of sacrifice and magic: Among them curses figured prominently, and curse inscriptions from c. 500 bce onward have been found in large numbers. There were also numerous survivals of taboo, a negative branch of magic: people were admonished to have no dealings with strangers, corpses, newborn children, spots struck by lightning,…

  • curse of Artemisia (manuscript)

    calligraphy: Ptolemaic period: …350–330 bce) or in the curse of Artemisia in Vienna (4th century bce), the writing is cruder, and ω is in transition to what is afterward its invariable written form. Similar features can be seen in the earliest precisely dated document, a marriage contract of 311 bce. It has been…

  • Curse of Blondie, The (album by Blondie)

    Blondie: The band’s later albums include The Curse of Blondie (2004), Panic of Girls (2011), and Pollinator (2017). In 2006 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2024 the U.S. Library of Congress added Parallel Lines to the National Recording Registry, a list of audio…

  • Curse of Frankenstein, The (film by Fisher [1957])

    Hammer Films: Lee played the Creature in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and became an international star when he portrayed the title character in Dracula the following year. He went on to play Count Dracula six more times for Hammer and appeared in numerous other productions, including the studio’s last horror film,…

  • Curse of the Demon (film by Tourneur [1957])

    Jacques Tourneur: Later films: Stars in My Crown, Nightfall, and Curse of the Demon: …the Demon (1957; also called Curse of the Demon), a superb adaptation of M.R. James’s supernatural story “Casting the Runes,” starring Dana Andrews. In The Fearmakers (1958) an adman (Andrews) returns from the Korean War to find that his firm has been taken over by communists, and in Timbuktu (1959)…

  • Curse of the Mekons (album by the Mekons)

    the Mekons: (1985), The Mekons Rock’n’Roll (1989), Curse of the Mekons (1991), and I Love Mekons (1993), featuring songs informed by leftist political sentiments and laced with sardonic humour. The Mekons (some of whom relocated to the United States) continued to record and perform into the 21st century, making them one of…

  • Curse of the Pink Panther (film by Edwards [1983])

    Blake Edwards: Later films: …the Pink Panther (1982) and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), both of which suffered badly from the absence of the recently deceased Sellers. A 1983 remake of François Truffaut’s The Man Who Loved Women with Andrews and Burt Reynolds in the lead roles, Micki & Maude (1984), with Moore…

  • Curse of the Starving Class (play by Shepard)

    American literature: The Off-Broadway ascendancy: …with fierce family conflict, including Curse of the Starving Class (1976), True West (1980), Fool for Love (1983), and A Lie of the Mind (1986).

  • Cursed (film by Craven [2005])

    Wes Craven: His later films included Cursed (2005), a foray into the werewolf genre; the thriller Red Eye (2005); and the slasher movie My Soul to Take (2010), which was shown in 3-D.

  • cursillo (Roman Catholicism)

    cursillo, in Roman Catholicism, a three-day period of spiritual renewal stressing the dynamic, communitarian, and personalistic aspects of the Christian faith. The cursillo de cristianidad (Spanish: “little course in Christianity”), founded in 1949 by layman Eduardo Bonnín, Father Sebastián Gayá,

  • cursing (language)

    profanity, language that is considered socially offensive due to being vulgar, obscene, or irreverent. The term profanity is often used in a religious sense to refer to language that is blasphemous, sacrilegious, or sometimes merely secular. In a broader sense, profanity is often referred to as

  • cursive (handwriting)

    cursive, style of handwriting distinguished by rounded shapes in a word and, frequently, connection of characters. Cursive style allows the pen to flow in continuous strokes, accelerating the handwriting speed of a practiced hand. Though modern cursive is often associated with languages that use

  • cursive minuscule (calligraphy)

    calligraphy: Uncials, half uncials, and cursive minuscule: …uncials, although the frequency in cursive minuscule of ligatures between letters tends to conceal the fundamental likeness between the two hands.

  • cursive script (writing system)

    calligraphy: Origins to the 8th century ce: …this writing is often termed cursive. Scribes also made frequent use of abbreviations. When the scribe was skillful in reconciling clarity and speed, such writing may have much character, even beauty; but it often degenerates into a formless, sometimes indecipherable, scrawl.

  • cursorial locomotion (locomotion)

    dog: Skeletal structure: Dogs are running animals, with the exception of those bred specifically for different purposes. For instance, the bulldog, with its large head and short, “bowed” legs, cannot be called a creature born to chase game. Most dogs, however, are well equipped to run or lope over long…

  • Cursoriinae (bird)

    courser, any of 9 or 10 species of Old World shorebirds belonging to the family Glareolidae (order Charadriiformes), which also includes the pratincoles. Most live in semideserts, where they chase insects afoot; they can, however, fly strongly with their short wings. The best-known species is the

  • Cursorius coromandelicus (bird)

    courser: The Indian courser (C. coromandelicus) is brown with a strong face pattern. The bronze-winged courser (Rhinoptilus chalcopterus), largest of several species in sub-Saharan Africa, frequents woodlands and is chiefly nocturnal. It is about 30 cm (12 inches) long.

  • Cursorius cursor (bird)

    courser: The best-known species is the cream-coloured courser (Cursorius cursor) of Africa, a pale-brown bird with white underparts, bold eye stripes, and black wing tips. The Indian courser (C. coromandelicus) is brown with a strong face pattern. The bronze-winged courser (Rhinoptilus chalcopterus), largest of several species in sub-Saharan Africa, frequents woodlands…

  • cursus honorum (Roman government)

    ancient Rome: Citizenship and politics in the middle republic: …moved swiftly through the senatorial cursus honorum (“course of honors”) to win the consulship and command against Philip V at the age of 30. Such cases prompted laws to regulate the senatorial cursus: iteration in the same magistracy was prohibited, the praetorship was made a prerequisite for the consulship, and…

  • Cursus Philosophicus (work by John of Saint Thomas)

    John of Saint Thomas: …his principal works are the Cursus Philosophicus, 9 vol. (1632–36; “Course in Philosophy”) and the Cursus Theologicus, 7 vol. (1637–44; “Course in Theology”), explicating questions on major speculative themes such as the nature of theology and divine revelation, the demonstrability of God’s existence, human freedom, and the rationale for morality,…

  • cursus publicus (Roman postal system)

    postal system: Message-relay systems of the ancient world: …need was met by the cursus publicus, the most highly developed postal system of the ancient world. The relay stages of the cursus publicus, established at convenient intervals along the great roads of the empire, formed an integral part of its complex military and administrative system. The speed with which…

  • cursus rapidi (Roman transportation)

    road: The Roman roads: …divided into two classes: (1) cursus rapidi, the express service, and (2) agnarie, the freight service. In addition, there was an enormous amount of travel by private individuals. The two most widely used vehicles were the two-wheeled chariot drawn by two or four horses and its companion, the cart used…

  • Cursus Theologicus (work of John of Saint Thomas)

    John of Saint Thomas: …“Course in Philosophy”) and the Cursus Theologicus, 7 vol. (1637–44; “Course in Theology”), explicating questions on major speculative themes such as the nature of theology and divine revelation, the demonstrability of God’s existence, human freedom, and the rationale for morality, Christian worship, and the church. The Cursus Philosophicus includes an…

  • curtain (interior decoration)

    curtain, in interior design, decorative fabric commonly hung to regulate the admission of light at windows and to prevent drafts from door or window openings. Curtains, usually of a heavy material, arranged to fall straight in ornamental folds are also called draperies. Portieres are heavy curtains

  • Curtain Call: The Hits (album by Eminem [2005])

    Eminem: Later albums and projects: … (2004) and a greatest-hits set, Curtain Call: The Hits (2005), both of which sold well but failed to garner as much attention as his previous albums had. He then stepped out of the public eye, resurfacing briefly in 2006 to eulogize friend and D12 member Proof, who was killed outside…

  • Curtain of Green, A (work by Welty)

    Eudora Welty: …steadily after the publication of A Curtain of Green (1941; enlarged 1979), a volume of short stories that contains two of her most anthologized stories—“The Petrified Man” and “Why I Live at the P.O.” In 1942 her short novel The Robber Bridegroom was issued, and in 1946 her first full-length…

  • Curtain Theatre (historical theater, London, United Kingdom)

    Curtain Theatre, playhouse opened in 1577 in Curtain Close, Finsbury Fields, Shoreditch. The Curtain was the second such public playhouse (after The Theatre) to be built in the London environs. Henry Lanman, who was the theatre’s manager from 1582 to 1592, may have been responsible for its

  • curtain wall (construction)

    curtain wall, Nonbearing wall of glass, metal, or masonry attached to a building’s exterior structural frame. After World War II, low energy costs gave impetus to the concept of the tall building as a glass prism, an idea originally put forth by Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in their

  • curtain-web spider (arachnid)

    curtain-web spider, (family Dipluridae), any member of a family of more than 150 species of mostly tropical spiders that are named for the messy funnel-shaped webs. These webs open wide at the mouth of the tube, and the nocturnal spider sits in the narrow funnel waiting for prey to contact the web.

  • curtained platform (stage design)

    theatre: Staging conventions: …least is known, was the curtained platform. Toward the end of the Middle Ages itinerant professional actors who performed interludes required only a curtain behind them for staging.

  • curtal (musical instrument)

    curtal, Renaissance-era musical instrument and predecessor of the bassoon, with a double-back bore cut from a single piece of wood and built in sizes from treble to double bass (sometimes called the double curtal in England and the Choristfagott in Germany). The curtal was developed in the 16th

  • curtal (weapon)

    warship: Gun-armed warships: …or five short-barreled cannon, or curtals, a similar number of demicannon, and culverins. The average cannon, a short-range gun, hurled an iron ball of about 50 pounds (23 kg), and the demicannon one of 32 pounds (14 kg). The culverin, a longer and stronger gun, fired a smaller shot over…

  • curtal sonnet (literature)

    curtal sonnet, a curtailed or contracted sonnet. It refers specifically to a sonnet of 11 lines rhyming abcabc dcbdc or abcabc dbcdc with the last line a tail, or half a line. The term was used by Gerard Manley Hopkins to describe the form that he used in such poems as “Pied Beauty” and “Peace.”

  • curtall (musical instrument)

    curtal, Renaissance-era musical instrument and predecessor of the bassoon, with a double-back bore cut from a single piece of wood and built in sizes from treble to double bass (sometimes called the double curtal in England and the Choristfagott in Germany). The curtal was developed in the 16th

  • Curtea de Argeş (Romania)

    Curtea de Argeş, town, Argeş judeƫ (county), south-central Romania. It is on the Argeş River, at an elevation of 1,378 ft (420 m), on the southern slopes of the Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians), about 80 mi (130 km) northwest of Bucharest. Curtea de Argeş succeeded Câmpulung as capital of

  • Curteen, Sir William (English merchant)

    Sir William Courteen was an English merchant and shipowner noted especially for his enterprises in the West Indies and the East Indies. The son of a Protestant refugee who had come to London in 1568, Courteen from an early age acted as the agent in Haarlem, Neth., for his father’s silk and linen

  • curtesy (law)

    inheritance: Limits on freedom of testation: …the widower was entitled to curtesy, a life rent in his wife’s heritage (i.e., immovable) property, and the widow had the right of terce—i.e., a life rent out of one-third of her husband’s inheritable estate. In England, freedom of testation, while unlimited by law, was kept within narrow limits by…

  • Curtin, Jane (American actress)

    Saturday Night Live: Not Ready for Primetime Players: Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. (This improvisation tradition also gave rise to Second City TV, which appeared first on Canadian television [1976–80] and then on NBC [1981–83], to the American Broadcasting Company’s Fridays [1980–82], and to the

  • Curtin, John (prime minister of Australia)

    John Curtin was a statesman, prime minister of Australia during most of World War II, and leader of the Australian Labor Party (1934–45). After involving himself in trade union and anticonscription activity in Melbourne (1911–15), Curtin became editor of a Perth newspaper, the Westralian Worker. In

  • Curtin, John Joseph (prime minister of Australia)

    John Curtin was a statesman, prime minister of Australia during most of World War II, and leader of the Australian Labor Party (1934–45). After involving himself in trade union and anticonscription activity in Melbourne (1911–15), Curtin became editor of a Perth newspaper, the Westralian Worker. In

  • curtis (dwelling)

    villa, country estate, complete with house, grounds, and subsidiary buildings. The term villa particularly applies to the suburban summer residences of the ancient Romans and their later Italian imitators. In Great Britain the word has come to mean a small detached or semidetached suburban home. In

  • Curtis (island, New Zealand)

    Kermadec Islands: Curtis and Macauley were discovered (1788) by the crew of the British ship “Lady Penrhyn.” The others were found (1793) by the French navigator Joseph d’Entrecasteaux, who named the entire group after one of his ships. The first Europeans who settled there (1837) sold garden…