needlegrass, (genus Stipa), genus of about 150 species of grasses in the family Poaceae, characterized by sharply pointed grains and long threadlike awns (bristles). Most needlegrasses provide good forage in dry areas before the seed is formed, but the sharp grain of some species may puncture the

Sir Ranulph Fiennes: …of interest to him, including The Feather Men (1991), about an alleged plot by members of the SAS to thwart a series of assassinations by Middle Eastern terrorists, and a best-selling biography of Robert Falcon Scott that was published in 2003. He also wrote two volumes of autobiography, Living Dangerously…

feather moss, (Ptilium, formerly Hypnum, crista-castrensis), the only species of the genus Ptilium, it is a widely distributed plant of the subclass Bryidae that forms dense light green mats on rocks, rotten wood, or peaty soil, especially in mountain forests of the Northern Hemisphere. The erect

feather star, any of the 550 living species of crinoid marine invertebrates (class Crinoidea) of the phylum Echinodermata lacking a stalk. The arms, which have feathery fringes and can be used for swimming, usually number five. Feather stars use their grasping “legs” (called cirri) to perch on

Leonard Feather was a British-born American jazz journalist, producer, and songwriter whose standard reference work, The Encyclopedia of Jazz, and energetic advocacy placed him among the most influential of jazz critics. A writer for English popular music journals in the early 1930s, Feather moved

Leonard Feather was a British-born American jazz journalist, producer, and songwriter whose standard reference work, The Encyclopedia of Jazz, and energetic advocacy placed him among the most influential of jazz critics. A writer for English popular music journals in the early 1930s, Feather moved

Victor Feather, Baron Feather of the City of Bradford , Baron Feather of the City of Bradford, was a British trade unionist who led the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in its confrontations with governments over industrial-relations legislation from 1969 to 1973. Feather grew up in the industrial town

Victor Feather, Baron Feather of the City of Bradford , Baron Feather of the City of Bradford, was a British trade unionist who led the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in its confrontations with governments over industrial-relations legislation from 1969 to 1973. Feather grew up in the industrial town

mining: Unit operations: …this is the use of feathers and wedges. Feathers are two half-round pieces of steel that are inserted into all of the holes forming a side of the block. The quarry worker works down the row, inserting a wedge between each pair of feathers and then tapping the wedges with…

feather-duster worm, any large, segmented marine worm of the family Sabellidae (class Polychaeta, phylum Annelida). The name is also occasionally applied to members of the closely related polychaete family Serpulidae. Sabellids live in long tubes constructed of mud or sand cemented by mucus,

butterflyfish: …its dorsal fin; and the pennant coralfish, or feather-fin bull fish (Heniochus acuminatus), a black-and-white striped Indo-Pacific species with a very long spine in its dorsal fin.

assassin bug: Predatory behaviour: …the subfamily Holoptilinae, commonly called feather-legged bugs, possess a specialized outgrowth on the abdomen known as a trichome. A secretion released from the trichome attracts ants, which lick the substance and become paralyzed. The feather-legged bug then pierces the ant with its beak and sucks out the body fluids. The…

poultry processing: Defeathering: …carcasses then go through the feather-picking machines, which are equipped with rubber “fingers” specifically designed to beat off the feathers. The carcasses are moved through a sequence of machines, each optimized for removing different sets of feathers. At this point the carcasses are usually singed by passing through a flame…

tree shrew: …hair, but that of the pen-tailed tree shrew (Ptilocercus lowii) is hairless and ends in a featherlike tuft.

feather-winged beetle, (family Ptiliidae), any of more than 400 species of beetles (insect order Coleoptera) characterized by long fringes of hair on the long, narrow hindwings. The antennae also have whorls of long hairs. Most feather-winged beetles are oval and between 0.25 and 1 mm (0.01 to 0.04

notopterid, any of about eight species of air-breathing, freshwater fishes constituting the family Notopteridae, found in quiet waters from Africa to Southeast Asia. Notopterids are long-bodied, small-scaled fishes with a small dorsal fin (if present) and a long, narrow anal fin that runs along

featherbedding, labour union practices that require the employer to pay for the performance of what he considers to be unnecessary work or for work that is not in fact performed or to employ workers who are not needed. The existence of featherbedding in any specific instance is usually disputed and

feathered dinosaur, any of a group of theropod (carnivorous) dinosaurs, including birds, that evolved feathers from a simple filamentous covering at least by the Late Jurassic Epoch (about 163.5 million to 145 million years ago). Similar structures have been reported on the bodies of some

windmill grass: Feathered finger grass (Chloris virgata) is a weedy North American annual with feathery flower spikelets. Australian finger grass (C. truncata) and the North American tumble windmill grass (C. verticillata) are perennial species of waste areas. Rhodes grass (C. gayana), a tufted perennial native to South…

Caryophyllaceae: Major genera and species: …cottage, or grass, pink (D. plumarius). See also baby’s breath; campion; chickweed.

Quetzalcóatl, (from Nahuatl quetzalli, “tail feather of the quetzal bird [Pharomachrus mocinno],” and coatl, “snake”), the Feathered Serpent, one of the major deities of the ancient Mexican pantheon. Representations of a feathered snake occur as early as the Teotihuacán civilization (3rd to 8th

Xochicalco: …of structures, including the so-called Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent (Quetzalcóatl), two ball courts, and a variety of houses and plazas. The Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent displays a number of reliefs—such as plumed serpents and men with elaborate headdresses—indicating strong Mayan influence. Xochicalco was declared a UNESCO World Heritage…

rowing: Stroke and style of training: …of the recovery is called feathering. The extraction of the blade after driving the boat through the water is called the finish. Turning of the blade from horizontal to vertical in preparation for the catch is called squaring.

Julio Ramón Ribeyro: …the best-known of which is Los gallinazos sin plumas (1955; “Featherless Buzzards”). The title story of that collection, which is among the stories translated in Marginal Voices (1993), is his most famous and most anthologized.

feathertail, small marsupial mammal, a species of glider

Pennisetum: Several varieties of feathertop (P. villosum), native to Ethiopia, are cultivated as ornamentals for their arching form and feathery coloured flower clusters.

featherwork, decorative use of ornamental feathers, especially the feather mosaic needlework of Victorian England. Feathers have been used for adornment since prehistoric times. The Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Indians constructed a turkey-feather and yucca-cord fabric before their introduction to

writing: Types of writing systems: Featural writing systems exploit the fact that even phonemes are not the most fundamental units of analysis of speech. Rather, phonemes may be analyzed into sets of distinctive features. The phonemes represented by the letters n and d share the feature of the tongue touching…

phonetics: Features: Each of the phonemes that appears in the lexicon of a language may be classified in terms of a set of phonetic properties, or features. Phoneticians and linguists have been trying to develop a set of features that is sufficient to classify the phonemes…

toponymy: …broad categories: habitation names and feature names. A habitation name denotes a locality that is peopled or inhabited, such as a homestead, village, or town, and usually dates from the locality’s inception. Feature names refer to natural or physical features of the landscape and are subdivided into hydronyms (water features),…

newspaper syndicate, agency that sells to newspapers and other media special writing and artwork, often written by a noted journalist or eminent authority or drawn by a well-known cartoonist, that cannot be classified as spot coverage of the news. Its fundamental service is to spread the cost of

Paraguay: The Chaco War: …military coup known as the Febrerista revolt, conducted by radical officers. The inept new government soon fell, however, and Estigarribia was elected president in 1939.

Febronianism, a German religio-political doctrine expounded by Bishop Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim (under the pseudonym Justinus Febronius) in his De Statu Ecclesiae et Legitima Potestate Romani Pontificis (1763; “The State of the Church and the Lawful Power of the Roman Pontiff”). The doctrine

Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim was a historian and theologian who founded Febronianism, the German form of Gallicanism, which advocated the restriction of papal power. Hontheim’s extensive European travels brought him to Rome, where he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1728. He became professor

February, second month of the Gregorian calendar. It was named after Februalia, the Roman festival of purification. Originally, February was the last month of the Roman

In early 2011, amid a wave of popular protest in countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa, largely peaceful demonstrations against entrenched regimes brought quick transfers of power in Egypt and Tunisia. In Libya, however, an uprising against the four-decade rule of Muammar al-Qaddafi

Empire of Japan: Manchukuo and the Second Sino-Japanese War: The February 1936 military revolt in Tokyo marked the high point of the extremists and the consolidation of power by the Control faction within the army. With the death of Korekiyo, whose monetary policies had spared Japan the worst effects of the Depression, opposition to additional…

China: Seizure of power: The movement, dubbed the “February adverse current,” was quickly defeated and a new radical upsurge began. Indeed, by the summer of 1967, large armed clashes occurred throughout urban China, and even Chinese embassies abroad experienced takeovers by their own Red Guards. The Red Guards splintered into zealous factions, each…

February Manifesto, (Feb. 15, 1899) a Russian imperial proclamation that abrogated Finland’s autonomy within the Russian Empire. After Finland was ceded by Sweden to Russia in 1809, it gained the status of a grand duchy, and its constitution was respected; beginning in 1890, however,

Austria: Constitutional experimentation, 1860–67: …four months later issued the February Patent (1861), officially a revision of the Diploma. This document provided for a bicameral system: an empirewide house of representatives composed of delegates from the diets and a house of lords consisting partly of hereditary members and partly of men of special distinction appointed…

February Revolution, (March 8–12 [Feb. 24–28, old style], 1917), the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917, in which the monarchy was overthrown and replaced by the Provisional Government. This government, intended as an interim stage in the creation of a permanent democratic-parliamentary

Lucien Paul Victor Febvre was a French historian of the early modern period and organizer of major national and international intellectual projects. In his books and editorial efforts, Febvre embraced a “global” history that rejected all forms of pedantry and determinism. Febvre, the son of a

Buckley v. Valeo: Opinion: … court also found that the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which had been established in 1974 to administer and enforce FECA, was improperly constituted in violation of the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section 2, clause 2), because members of the commission were not nominated by the president…

telecommunication: Channel encoding: One method is called forward error control (FEC). In this method information bits are protected against errors by the transmitting of extra redundant bits, so that if errors occur during transmission the redundant bits can be used by the decoder to determine where the errors have occurred and how…

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), legislation adopted in the United States in 1971 to regulate the raising and spending of money in U.S. federal elections. It imposed restrictions on the amounts of monetary or other contributions that could lawfully be made to federal candidates and parties,

colorectal cancer: Diagnosis: A fecal immunochemical test (FIT) may also be used to detect the presence of blood in the stool. FIT tests can be completed at home and then mailed to a laboratory for testing. Results are sent to the patient’s physician. If colorectal cancer is suspected, the…

defecation: Incontinence—the loss of control over the evacuative process—can develop with age; it may also result from surgical, obstetric, spinal, or other bodily injuries or with neurological impairment resulting from diabetes, stroke, or multiple sclerosis. Defecation may also be influenced by pain, fear, temperature elevation, and…

autism: Diagnosis and treatment: …interest in this regard is microbiota transfer therapy. In clinical studies, the transfer of fecal bacteria from healthy individuals into the gastrointestinal tracts of persons with autism was associated with improvements in gastrointestinal health and behavioral symptoms in autism patients.

fecal occult blood test, method used to analyze feces for the purpose of diagnosing a disease or disorder in humans or animals. In humans the fecal occult blood test is a low-cost method for detecting gastrointestinal bleeding, which may be the first sign of carcinoma of the colon or rectum.

laxative: Fecal softeners are not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and act to increase the bulk of the feces. Liquid paraffin (mineral oil) can be used either as the oil itself or as a white emulsion. Other fecal softeners have a detergent action that increases the…

polio: Course of disease: …most often by the so-called fecal-oral route—that is, from fecal matter taken into the mouth through contaminated food or fingers. It can also enter by ingestion of droplets expelled from the throat of an infected person. New victims may become ill about 7 to 14 days after ingesting the virus.…

appendix: …in the opening is a fecalith, a hardened piece of fecal matter. Swelling of the lining of the appendiceal walls themselves can also block the opening. When the appendix is prevented from emptying itself, a series of events occurs. Fluids and its own mucous secretions collect in the appendix, leading…

Fécamp, seaside resort and fishing port of northern France, Seine-Maritime département, Normandy région, northeast of Le Havre. It lies at the opening of the valley of the Valmont River, between high cliffs. In the 11th century Fécamp became famous for its Benedictine abbey, which, before the

feces, solid bodily waste discharged from the large intestine through the anus during defecation. Feces are normally removed from the body one or two times a day. About 100 to 250 grams (3 to 8 ounces) of feces are excreted by a human adult daily. Normally, feces are made up of 75 percent water and

Gustav Fechner was a German physicist and philosopher who was a key figure in the founding of psychophysics, the science concerned with quantitative relations between sensations and the stimuli producing them. Although he was educated in biological science, Fechner turned to mathematics and

Gustav Fechner was a German physicist and philosopher who was a key figure in the founding of psychophysics, the science concerned with quantitative relations between sensations and the stimuli producing them. Although he was educated in biological science, Fechner turned to mathematics and

theatre: British theatre and stage design: …first manager of significance was Charles Fechter, who revived interest in the box set. He also discontinued entrances from the wings, heretofore a standard practice of actors even when the wings represented solid walls. Fechter also used a stage that sank by hydraulic mechanism, later perfected by the Germans, which…

John de Feckenham was an English priest and the last abbot of Westminster. Feckenham was a monk at Evesham until that monastery was dissolved in 1540. He then returned for a time to Oxford, where he had formerly been educated, becoming in 1543 chaplain to Bishop Edmund Bonner of London. He shared

Ahmed Haşim: In 1909 he joined the Fecr-i âti (“Dawn of the Future”) literary circle but gradually drew apart from this group and developed his own style. Haşim, following the French masters, strove to develop the Turkish Symbolist movement. In a 1924 article on Turkish literature for the French publication Mercure de…

myth: Hunting and agricultural deities: …marriage in order to gain fecundity for humans (this happens in ancient Mesopotamian religions, for instance).

monetary policy: The Federal Reserve System (commonly called the Fed) in the United States and the Bank of England of Great Britain are two of the largest such “banks” in the world. Although there are some differences between them, the fundamentals of their operations are almost identical and…

Billie Jean King Cup, trophy representing the women’s amateur team-tennis championship of the world, inaugurated in 1963 by the International Lawn Tennis Federation in observance of its 50th anniversary. The first competition, an elimination tournament involving teams of three players from 16

Mohammedia, port city, northwestern Morocco. It lies along the Atlantic Ocean 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Casablanca. The harbour, at what is now Mohammedia, was frequented in the 14th and 15th centuries by merchant ships from Europe seeking cereals and dried fruits. In the 18th and 19th

fedayee, a term used in Islamic cultures to describe a devotee of a religious or national group willing to engage in self-immolation to attain a group goal. The term first appeared in the 11th–13th centuries in reference to the members of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī sect of Assassins who would risk their

fedayee: …leader Ṣaddām Ḥussein; members of Fedayeen Ṣaddām (Fidāʾī Ṣaddām) engaged in guerrilla operations against U.S. and British forces during the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Fedchenko Glacier, extensive valley glacier, situated in the Central Asian Pamirs range, central Tajikistan. The world’s largest glacier found outside the polar regions, it is about 45 miles (70 km) long and covers up to some 350 square miles (900 square km). It flows north from the ice field of

Fedchenko Glacier, extensive valley glacier, situated in the Central Asian Pamirs range, central Tajikistan. The world’s largest glacier found outside the polar regions, it is about 45 miles (70 km) long and covers up to some 350 square miles (900 square km). It flows north from the ice field of

Fedchenko Glacier: …for the 19th-century Russian explorer A.P. Fedchenko. Its middle and upper reaches were first explored in 1928 as part of a major Soviet expedition to the Pamirs region. Over the years the glacier has been the site of several meteorological stations.

Andrea del Sarto: …1517 or 1518 Sarto married Lucrezia del Fede, a widow whom he had, according to her testimony, used as a model for several years; she brought him property and a useful dowry. In 1518 he was summoned by the king of France, Francis I, to Fontainebleau, where he was preceded…

Compagnia dei Fedeli, one of several Italian companies performing commedia dell’arte (improvised popular comedy) at the beginning of the 17th century. The name means “company of the faithful.” The Fedeli was a successor to the pioneering Gelosi company and incorporated some of the Gelosi’s actors

Gottfried Feder was a German political activist who was the principal economic theoretician of the initial phase of German Nazism. Feder, a civil engineer, gained notoriety in 1919 for his vaguely socialistic “Manifest zur Brechung der Zinsknechtschaft” (“Manifesto on Breaking the Shackles of

Spain: The Second Republic: …of an anarchist group, the Iberian Anarchist Federation (Federación Anarquista Ibérica; FAI). Violent strikes were frequent.

administrative law: The German system: …the federation there is the Federal Administrative Court, which acts mainly as a court of appeals from the superior administrative courts in the Länder and even from the lower administrative courts in certain circumstances. The Federal Administrative Court serves also as a court of first and last instance in disputes…

road: From local to national funding: …view was recognized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921, which required each state to designate a system of state highways not to exceed 7 percent of the total highway mileage in each state. Federal-aid funding was limited to this system, which was not to exceed three-sevenths of total…

Route 66: Rise and demise of the route: Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, a few segments of Route 66 had already been superseded by newer, wider, and safer roads. The act authorized federal funding for an Interstate Highway System of such roads, and, despite an appeal by the state of Missouri on behalf…

road: From local to national funding: …Office Appropriation Act, and the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 established federal aid for highways as a national policy. The Bureau of Public Roads, established in the Department of Agriculture in 1893 to make “inquiries with regard to road management,” was given responsibility for the program, and an apportionment…

Germany: Security of Germany: …the Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). The German military forces are divided into an army, navy, and air force. From its inception the Federal Armed Forces was envisioned as a citizens’ defense force, decisively under civilian control through the Bundestag, and its officers and soldiers trained to be mindful of…

WPA Federal Art Project, first major attempt at government patronage of the visual arts in the United States and the most extensive and influential of the visual arts projects conceived during the Depression of the 1930s by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is often confused

Bundestag, one of the two legislative chambers of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundestag is the lower house, representing the nation as a whole and elected by universal suffrage under a system of mixed direct and proportional representation. Members serve four-year terms. The Bundestag in

Russia: Constitutional framework: Under the new constitution the Federal Assembly became the country’s legislature. It consists of the Federation Council (an upper house comprising appointed representatives from each of Russia’s administrative divisions) and the State Duma (a 450-member popularly elected lower house). The president’s nominee for chairman of the government is subject to…

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), agency of the U.S. federal government that is responsible for ensuring the safety and efficiency of civil aviation in the United States and in surrounding international waters. Created as the independent Federal Aviation Agency in 1958, it was incorporated

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), principal investigative agency of the federal government of the United States. The bureau is responsible for conducting investigations in cases where federal laws may have been violated, unless another agency of the federal government has been specifically

Federal Capital Territory (FCT), administrative territory, central Nigeria, created in 1976. The territory is located north of the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers. It is bordered by the states of Niger to the west and northwest, Kaduna to the northeast, Nassarawa to the east and south, and

United States Court of Appeals: The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, created by an act of Congress in 1982, hears appeals from U.S. district and territorial courts primarily in patent and trademark cases, though it also hears appeals in cases in which the United States or its agencies is…

United States presidential election of 1960: The general election campaign: A provision of the Federal Communications Act had been suspended by Congress earlier in the year to permit the networks to broadcast the debates without having to provide equal time for candidates of minor parties. Although the debates were sometimes compared to the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and…

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent agency of the U.S. federal government. Established in 1934, it regulates interstate and foreign communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. Its standards and regulations apply only to the technical aspects, including

Federal Constitutional Court, in Germany, special court for the review of judicial and administrative decisions and legislation to determine whether they are in accord with the Basic Law (constitution) of the country. Although all German courts are empowered to review the constitutionality of

Constitutional Convention, (1787), in U.S. history, convention that drew up the Constitution of the United States. Stimulated by severe economic troubles, which produced radical political movements such as Shays’s Rebellion, and urged on by a demand for a stronger central government, the convention

Christian Democratic People’s Party: …the seven seats on the Federal Council, the executive branch of the Swiss government. Since the 1960s the party’s level of support has fluctuated; from 1975 to 1983 it was the largest party, but from the mid-1980s through the 1990s it suffered a drop in support to parties on its…

Bundesrat, (German: “Federal Council”), one of the two legislative chambers of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is the Upper House and acts mainly in an advisory capacity, since political power resides in the popularly elected Bundestag, but its consent is required for a large number of laws and

free church: …this group merged with the Federal Council of the Evangelical Churches to form the Free Church Federal Council (commonly known as the Free Churches Group).

Federal Security Service (FSB), Russian internal security and counterintelligence service created in 1994 as one of the successor agencies of the Soviet-era KGB. It is responsible for counterintelligence, antiterrorism, and surveillance of the military. The FSB occupies the former headquarters of

Oliver Ellsworth: Life: …the committee to establish the federal court system and the chief author of the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789, the principal basis ever since of the U.S. court structure.

Germany: Security of Germany: …investigates customs violations; and the Federal Criminal Investigation Office (Bundeskriminalamt; BKA), headquartered in Wiesbaden, which provides forensic and research assistance to federal and state agencies investigating crime, as well as coordinating efforts among various state, national, and international police forces. The BfV is noteworthy for tracking the activities of extremist…

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a U.S. government agency created under the Banking Act of 1933 (also known as the Glass-Steagall Act). The primary role of the FDIC is to insure and protect bank depositors’ funds against loss in the event of a bank failure. The FDIC also plays a

Bundestag, one of the two legislative chambers of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundestag is the lower house, representing the nation as a whole and elected by universal suffrage under a system of mixed direct and proportional representation. Members serve four-year terms. The Bundestag in

Federal District, administrative district, central Mexico, the seat of the national government. It is officially equivalent with Mexico City, although the Mexico City metropolitan area extends beyond the district’s boundaries. It is bounded by the states of México to the west, north, and east and

Russia: Constitutional framework: Vladimir Putin created seven federal districts above the regional level to increase the central government’s power over the regions (see discussion below). His successor, Dmitry Medvedev, continued this policy: as a part of Moscow’s ongoing efforts to quell separatism and Islamic militancy in the Caucasus, he created an eighth…

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), legislation adopted in the United States in 1971 to regulate the raising and spending of money in U.S. federal elections. It imposed restrictions on the amounts of monetary or other contributions that could lawfully be made to federal candidates and parties,

Buckley v. Valeo: Opinion: … court also found that the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which had been established in 1974 to administer and enforce FECA, was improperly constituted in violation of the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section 2, clause 2), because members of the commission were not nominated by the president…