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debit card
debit card card that allows the cost of goods or services that are purchased to be deducted directly from the purchaser's checking account. They can also be used at automated teller machines for withdrawing cash from the user's checking account. Increasingly common in the 1990s as an alternative ...
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Wartburg
Wartburg , castle near Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, central Germany. Built c.1070, later enlarged, and renovated in the 18th cent., it was the seat of the medieval landgraves of Thuringia. It was the scene in 1207 of the Sängerkrieg, a contest of minnesingers in which Heinrich von Oft...
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marijuana
marijuana or marihuana, drug obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa (see hemp ) or C. indica; the latter species can withstand colder climates. It is one of the most commonly used drugs in the world, following only caffeine , nicotine , and...
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hypertext
hypertext technique for organizing computer databases or documents to facilitate the nonsequential retrieval of information. Related pieces of information are connected by preestablished or user-created links that allow a user to follow associative trails across the database. The linked data may be...
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search engine
search engine A program that when initiated by a search command from a user interface examines a body of data for items satisfying the search criteria and returns the items or their locations to the interface. The data could be, say, a literary database or information about very large numbers of Wor...
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brick
brick ceramic structural material that, in modern times, is made by pressing clay into blocks and firing them to the requisite hardness in a kiln. Bricks in their most primitive form were not fired but were hardened by being dried in the sun. Sun-dried bricks were utilized for many centuries and ar...
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automated teller machine
automated teller machine (ATM), device used by bank customers to process account transactions. Typically, a user inserts into the ATM a special plastic card that is encoded with information on a magnetic strip. The strip contains an identification code that is transmitted to the bank's central comp...
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rationing
rationing allotment of scarce supplies, usually by governmental decree, to provide equitable distribution. It may be employed also to conserve economic resources and to reinforce price and production controls. Originally used in community emergencies and in distributing supplies to sailors, rationi...
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desktop publishing
desktop publishing system for producing printed materials that consists of a personal computer or computer workstation, a high-resolution printer (usually a laser printer), and a computer program that allows the user to select from a variety of type fonts and sizes, column justifications, pag...
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Esperanto
Esperanto , an artificial language introduced in 1887 and intended by its inventor, Dr. Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof (1859-1917), a Polish oculist and linguist, to ease communication between speakers of different languages. In the 20th cent. it has been taught in schools and universities throughout the wo...
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