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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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civil service
civil service entire body of those employed in the civil administration as distinct from the military and excluding elected officials. The term was used in designating the British administration of India, and its first application elsewhere was in 1854 in England. Modern civil service personnel are...
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conscription
conscription compulsory enrollment of personnel for service in the armed forces. Obligatory service in the armed forces has existed since ancient times in many cultures, including the samurai in Japan, warriors in the Aztec Empire, citizen militiamen in ancient Greece and Rome, and aristocrats an...
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managed health care
managed health care system of health-care delivery that aims to control costs by assigning set fees for services, monitoring the need for procedures such as tests and surgical operations, and stressing preventive care. Managed health-care systems include health maintenance organizations ; preferre...
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United States Coast Guard Academy
United States Coast Guard Academy at New London, Conn.; for training young men and women to be officers of the U.S. Coast Guard; established 1876, opened 1877 as United States Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction, took its present name in 1915. The academy, differing from the other federal ...
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jeep
jeep small, durable automotive vehicle intended for heavy-duty applications and sometimes provided with the capability of delivering driving power to all four wheels. The last feature allows superior performance on slippery surfaces such as those formed by ice or mud. The earliest jeeps were used b...
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conscientious objector
conscientious objector person who, on the grounds of conscience, resists the authority of the state to compel military service. Such resistance, emerging in time of war, may be based on membership in a pacifistic religious sect, such as the Society of Friends (Quakers), the Dukhobors , or Jehov...
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social security
social security government program designed to provide for the basic economic security and welfare of individuals and their dependents. The programs classified under the term social security differ from one country to another, but all are the result of government legislation and all are designed to...
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hallel
hallel [Heb.,=praise], in Judaism, Psalms 113 to 118, sung every morning of Hanukkah, at the Passover service, and at the morning service of most major Jewish holidays as an expression of joy and thanksgiving.
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chief
chief or chieftain, political leader of a band, tribe, or confederation of tribes. At the simpler levels of social organization, the band or tribe usually lacks centralized authority and is ruled by the totality of adult males or of family or clan heads. Sometimes a temporary headman is chose...
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