debate, formal, oral confrontation between two individuals, teams, or groups who present arguments to support opposing sides of a question, generally according to a set form or procedure. In the House of Commons each bill presented is given three readings, each of which provides the opportunity and

Need to write an argumentative essay? Preparing for an upcoming debate? Or want to simply bone up on issues in the news? ProCon has more than 100 debatable topics complete with pro and con arguments, footnoted citations, quotes and statistics from experts, historical information, and other

Samuel Johnson: The Gentleman’s Magazine and early publications of Samuel Johnson: The series was dubbed “Debates in the Senate of Magna Lilliputia,” and this Swiftian expedient gives the speeches satiric overtones. Their status was complicated by the fact that Johnson, who had visited the House of Commons only once, wrote the debates on the basis of scant information about the…

Japanese music: Onstage music: …divided into onstage activities (debayashi) and offstage groups (geza). In plays derived from puppet dramas the gidayū musicians, called here the chobo, are placed on their traditional platform offstage left or behind a curtained alcove above the stage-left exit. If other genres are used, the performers are placed about…

Deba Habe, town, Gombe state, northeastern Nigeria, on the road from Gombe town to Numan. It was captured about 1810 by Buba Yero, the first Fulani emir of Gombe, and is still one of the largest towns in the Gombe area. A collecting point for peanuts (groundnuts) and cotton, it also serves as a

Lisa Robertson: Early life, education, and work: …concern is also apparent in Debbie: An Epic (1997), which reconfigures the classical epic genre in the service of a contemporary radical feminist politics. Both books range widely in formal terms, combining lined poetry and prose poetry, as well as dialogues and footnotes, to construct long poems. Robertson often examines…

Deborah, prophet and heroine in the Old Testament (Judg. 4 and 5), who inspired the Israelites to a mighty victory over their Canaanite oppressors (the people who lived in the Promised Land, later Palestine, that Moses spoke of before its conquest by the Israelites); the “Song of Deborah” (Judg.

Deba Habe, town, Gombe state, northeastern Nigeria, on the road from Gombe town to Numan. It was captured about 1810 by Buba Yero, the first Fulani emir of Gombe, and is still one of the largest towns in the Gombe area. A collecting point for peanuts (groundnuts) and cotton, it also serves as a

Armenia: Drainage: The tributaries of the Kura—the Debed (109 miles), the Aghstev (80 miles), and others—pass through Armenia’s northeastern regions. Lake Sevan, with a capacity in excess of 9 cubic miles (39 cubic kilometres) of water, is fed by dozens of rivers, but only the Hrazdan leaves its confines.

De Beers S.A., South African company that is the world’s largest producer and distributor of diamonds. Through its many subsidiaries and brands, De Beers participates in most facets of the diamond industry, including mining, trading, and retail. In the early 21st century the company marketed 40

Thomas More: Years as chancellor of England: …1533: the Apology and the Debellacyon. He also laughs away the accusation of greed leveled by William Tyndale, translator of parts of the first printed English Bible. More’s poverty was so notorious that the hierarchy collected £5,000 to recoup his polemical costs, but he refused this grant lest it be…

measurement system: The Egyptians: …ratio, 10 kites equaling 1 deben and 10 debens equaling 1 sep. Over the long duration of Egyptian history, the weight of the kite varied from period to period, ranging all the way from 4.5 to 29.9 grams (0.16 to 1.05 ounces). Approximately 3,500 different weights have been recovered from…

bond: …it is known as a debenture bond.

bond: …it is known as a debenture bond.

debenture stock, loan contract issued by a company or public body specifying an obligation to return borrowed funds and pay interest, secured by all or part of the company’s property. Certificates specifying the amount of stock, with coupons for interest attached, are usually issued to the lenders.

Dievs, in Baltic religion, the sky god. Dievs and Laima, the goddess of human fate, determine human destiny and world order. Dievs is a wooer of Saule, the sun. As pictured by the pre-Christian Balts, he is an Iron Age Baltic king who lives on a farmstead in the sky. Wearing a silver gown,

Bengali literature: Women writers: Rabindranath Tagore’s sister Swarnakumari Debi (1855/56–1932) is regarded as one of the earliest women writers in Bengali literature, producing 25 books and several essays. Begum Rokeya (1880–1932) was a prominent educator, political activist, and feminist thinker as well as an author and is considered a pioneer of women’s…

Elizabeth Debicki is an Australian screen and stage actress best known for playing Diana, princess of Wales, in the fifth and sixth seasons (2022–23) of the Netflix series The Crown (2016–23) and Jordan Baker in Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby (2013).

Celtic literature: Verse: …the later popular meter, the debide (literally, “cut in two”), consisted of two couplets with the two lines of each couplet rhyming.

radon: Giesel and French physicist André-Louis Debierne. Radioactive isotopes having masses ranging from 204 through 224 have been identified, the longest-lived of these being radon-222, which has a half-life of 3.82 days. All the isotopes decay into stable end-products of helium and isotopes of heavy metals, usually lead.

Peter Debye was a physical chemist whose investigations of dipole moments, X-rays, and light scattering in gases brought him the 1936 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. After receiving a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Munich (1908), Debye taught physics at the universities of Zürich, Utrecht,

Kiriath-sepher, ancient town of Palestine, located near Hebron in the West Bank. According to the Bible, the town was taken from the Canaanites either by Caleb’s son-in-law Othniel or by Joshua himself. Tall Bayt Mirsham (Tell Beit Mirsim) was excavated (1926–32) by W.F. Albright, who uncovered

Gustav Freytag: …novel Soll und Haben (1855; Debit and Credit, 1857). It celebrates the solid bourgeois qualities of the German merchants, and the close relationships between people’s characters and the work they do is well brought out. The success of the novel was such that its author was recognized as the leading…

debit card, small card, similar to a credit card, offering means of paying for a purchase through transfer of funds from the purchaser’s bank account to the vendor. Financial institutions that process these transactions benefit from cheaper transaction costs (it is more expensive for banks to

Debit and credit cards speed purchases and provide a level of protection from theft that cash can’t offer. And if someone uses your card fraudulently, you may be inconvenienced, but you won’t be held responsible, right? Well, it depends. Fraudulent charges involving debit cards are treated

Rudyard Kipling: Legacy of Rudyard Kipling: (1904), Actions and Reactions (1909), Debits and Credits (1926), and Limits and Renewals (1932). While his later stories cannot exactly be called better than the earlier ones, they are as good—and they bring a subtler if less dazzling technical proficiency to the exploration of deeper though sometimes more perplexing themes.…

typography: The private-press movement: …practitioners, in his essay “Déblaiement d’art” (1892) advocated the development of a new art, one that would be both vital and moral, like the great decorative arts of the past, but that would use contemporary modes. For a reprint of the essay, he designed a series of initials and…

déblé, wooden figure carved in the form of a woman by the Senufo people of West Africa and used as a “rhythm pounder” in certain rituals performed to promote the fertility of the soil. Initiates of the Poro (or Lo) male secret society, performing their fertility dance, held the figures by the upper

Lac Débo, situated in central Mali on a section of the Niger River between Mopti, located 50 mi (80 km) to the south, and Timbuktu, 150 mi to the northeast. In this region the Niger is joined by many lakes, creeks, and backwaters; at high water, Lac Débo becomes part of a general

poultry processing: Deboning and grinding: ” Further processed poultry products leave the backs, necks, and bones available for their own processing. These materials are run through a machine called a mechanical deboner or a meat-bone separator. In general, the crushed meat and bones are continuously pressed against a…

Deborah, prophet and heroine in the Old Testament (Judg. 4 and 5), who inspired the Israelites to a mighty victory over their Canaanite oppressors (the people who lived in the Promised Land, later Palestine, that Moses spoke of before its conquest by the Israelites); the “Song of Deborah” (Judg.

Deborah: …the Israelites); the “Song of Deborah” (Judg. 5), putatively composed by her, is perhaps the oldest section of the Bible and is of great importance for providing a contemporary glimpse of Israelite civilization in the 12th century bc. According to rabbinic tradition, she was a keeper of tabernacle lamps.

French literature: The events of 1968 and their aftermath: …occluding real life, according to Guy Debord, La Société du spectacle, 1967; The Society of the Spectacle). Posters and graffiti, the instruments of subversion, were elevated to a popular art form. Theatre experimented with audience participation and improvisation, a movement that continued into the 1970s. Rock music and comic books…

Abram Moiseyevich Deborin was a Russian Marxist philosopher who advocated Hegelian dialectics. Born into a petit bourgeois family, he joined the Leninist Bolshevik movement (1903) before Georgy Plekhanov influenced his becoming a Menshevik (1907) at the University of Bern, from which he graduated

Ariana DeBose is an American actress considered by many to be a “triple threat”—skilled in acting, dancing, and singing. Her notable credits include the original Broadway run of the musical Hamilton (2015–16), Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of the classic musical West Side Story (2021), the

guerrilla warfare: The Cold War period: …philosopher Herbert Marcuse, French revolutionary-philosopher Régis Debray, and others and armed with a do-it-yourself manual of murder (Carlos Marighela, For the Liberation of Brazil [1970]), New Left revolutionaries embraced assassination, robbery, indiscriminate bombing, and kidnapping to attain their ends—crimes that became the order of the day as did, on an…

DeBrazza’s monkey, (Cercopithecus neglectus), large brightly coloured guenon widely distributed through central Africa and into Ethiopia and western Kenya, particularly in forests near rivers and swamps. DeBrazza’s monkey is a white-bearded primate with speckled yellow-gray fur and a white stripe

Michel Debré was a French political leader, a close aide of President Charles de Gaulle. After playing a prominent part in the writing of the constitution of the Fifth Republic, he served as its first premier. Holder of a doctorate of laws, as well as a diploma from the École Libre des Sciences

Michel Debré was a French political leader, a close aide of President Charles de Gaulle. After playing a prominent part in the writing of the constitution of the Fifth Republic, he served as its first premier. Holder of a doctorate of laws, as well as a diploma from the École Libre des Sciences

Debrecen, city of county status and seat of Hajdú-Bihar megye (county). One of the most important cities in eastern Hungary, Debrecen is situated on the southwestern extremity of the sandy plain of the Nyírség region and on the eastern end of the Hortobágy puszta (steppe). It has a long history as

Jean-Baptiste Debret was a French painter and draughtsman known for his picturesque images of Brazil. Debret began his artistic career in France, where Neoclassicism dominated the arts. As a teenager he accompanied his cousin, the noted Neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David, on an extended trip

Debrett’s Peerage, guide to the British peerage (titled aristocracy), first published in London in 1802 by John Debrett as Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Debrett’s Peerage contains information about the royal family, the peerage, Privy Counsellors, Scottish Lords of Session, baronets,

Debrett’s Peerage, guide to the British peerage (titled aristocracy), first published in London in 1802 by John Debrett as Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Debrett’s Peerage contains information about the royal family, the peerage, Privy Counsellors, Scottish Lords of Session, baronets,

Gerard Debreu was a French-born American economist, who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Economics for his fundamental contribution to the theory of general equilibrium. In 1950 Debreu joined the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics (now the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics) at the

osteoarthritis: … or knee replacement or joint debridement (the removal of unhealthy tissue) may be necessary to relieve more severe pain and improve joint function. Injections of a joint lubricant consisting of hyaluronic acid, a substance normally found in synovial fluid, can help relieve pain and joint stiffness in some persons with…

landslide: Types of landslides: …debris, forming rock avalanches and debris avalanches, respectively. Entrapped snow and ice may also help mobilize such flows, but the unqualified term avalanche is generally used to refer only to an avalanche of snow. (See avalanche.) Triggered by earthquake shock or torrential rain in mountainous relief with steep gradients, a…

Eugene V. Debs was a labour organizer and Socialist Party candidate for U.S. president five times between 1900 and 1920. (Read George Bernard Shaw’s 1926 Britannica essay on socialism.) Debs left home at age 14 to work in the railroad shops and later became a locomotive fireman. In 1875 he helped

Eugene V. Debs was a labour organizer and Socialist Party candidate for U.S. president five times between 1900 and 1920. (Read George Bernard Shaw’s 1926 Britannica essay on socialism.) Debs left home at age 14 to work in the railroad shops and later became a locomotive fireman. In 1875 he helped

debt, something owed. Anyone having borrowed money or goods from another owes a debt and is under obligation to return the goods or repay the money, usually with interest. For governments, the need to borrow in order to finance a deficit budget has led to the development of various forms of

Bono: Activism: …eventually helped found in 2002 Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa (DATA), a policy and advocacy organization that seeks to eradicate poverty, hunger, and the spread of AIDS in Africa through public awareness campaigns and in-country partnerships. That year he appeared on the cover of Time magazine with the legend “Can Bono…

debt slavery, a state of indebtedness to landowners or merchant employers that limits the autonomy of producers and provides the owners of capital with cheap labour. Examples of debt slavery, indentured servitude, peonage, and other forms of forced labour exist around the world and throughout

budgetary autonomy: …of highly indebted poor countries, debt relief has freed resources that are then tied to social investment funds. These funds frequently operate off-budget, with a significant degree of autonomy, in the management of the allocation of these monies. Results vary.

debt ceiling, statutory or constitutionally mandated upper limit on the total outstanding public debt of a country, state, or municipality, usually expressed as an absolute sum. National debt ceilings have been established in some countries in the belief that excessive public debt, which requires

debt crisis, a situation in which a country is unable to pay back its government debt. A country can enter into a debt crisis when the tax revenues of its government are less than its expenditures for a prolonged period. In any country, the government finances its expenditures primarily by raising

budgetary autonomy: …of highly indebted poor countries, debt relief has freed resources that are then tied to social investment funds. These funds frequently operate off-budget, with a significant degree of autonomy, in the management of the allocation of these monies. Results vary.

debt ceiling, statutory or constitutionally mandated upper limit on the total outstanding public debt of a country, state, or municipality, usually expressed as an absolute sum. National debt ceilings have been established in some countries in the belief that excessive public debt, which requires

Third World debt, debt accumulated by Third World (developing) countries. The term is typically used to refer specifically to the external debt those countries owe to developed countries and multilateral lending institutions. The rapid growth in the external debt of developing countries first

debt slavery, a state of indebtedness to landowners or merchant employers that limits the autonomy of producers and provides the owners of capital with cheap labour. Examples of debt slavery, indentured servitude, peonage, and other forms of forced labour exist around the world and throughout

budgetary autonomy: …of highly indebted poor countries, debt relief has freed resources that are then tied to social investment funds. These funds frequently operate off-budget, with a significant degree of autonomy, in the management of the allocation of these monies. Results vary.

debt slavery, a state of indebtedness to landowners or merchant employers that limits the autonomy of producers and provides the owners of capital with cheap labour. Examples of debt slavery, indentured servitude, peonage, and other forms of forced labour exist around the world and throughout

debt slavery, a state of indebtedness to landowners or merchant employers that limits the autonomy of producers and provides the owners of capital with cheap labour. Examples of debt slavery, indentured servitude, peonage, and other forms of forced labour exist around the world and throughout

You may have heard of the so-called snowball debt strategy, where you pay off your smallest balances first (regardless of the annual percentage rate, or APR). In theory, you can enjoy some easy wins—and build momentum—as you work your way up to bigger balances. But the allure may be more

history of Latin America: Debt crisis: …full service on its foreign debt, which had grown to dangerously high levels. Both Mexico and Venezuela, as major petroleum exporters, benefited from rising international oil prices during the 1970s, but, instead of concluding that foreign credit was no longer necessary, they assumed that any amount of indebtedness would be…

public debt, obligations of governments, particularly those evidenced by securities, to pay certain sums to the holders at some future time. Public debt is distinguished from private debt, which consists of the obligations of individuals, business firms, and nongovernmental organizations. A brief

Jessica Chastain: …Helen Mirren in the thriller The Debt (2010), about Mossad agents haunted by their past. Chastain’s true breakthrough came in 2011, when she appeared in several movies, most notably Terrence Malick’s meditation The Tree of Life and the blockbuster The Help. In the latter, Chastain portrayed an ostracized housewife who…

WWF: …achievements is its use of debt-for-nature swaps, in which an organization buys some of a country’s foreign debt at a discount, converts the money to local currency, and then uses it to finance conservation efforts. The WWF’s first successful debt-for-nature swap took place in 1987 in Ecuador.

Randall Robinson: In his book The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks (2000), he demanded compensation—not only financial payments but also meaningful social programs and other restitutive solutions—to atone for the years of slavery and for the imbalances, injustices, and discrimination that keep Blacks at a disadvantage to whites.

Ethiopian chant: The debtara, or singer of zema, is an unordained member of the clergy who is well versed in the Ethiopian church rituals, in aspects of the liturgy, and in the scriptures, and he is trained to distinguish the subtleties of moods and manners of performance. Although…

Ethiopian chant: The debtara, or singer of zema, is an unordained member of the clergy who is well versed in the Ethiopian church rituals, in aspects of the liturgy, and in the scriptures, and he is trained to distinguish the subtleties of moods and manners of performance. Although…

debtor and creditor: …persons in which one, the debtor, can be compelled to furnish services, money, or goods to the other, the creditor. This relationship may be created by the failure of the debtor to pay damages to the injured party or to pay a fine to the community; however, the relationship usually…

debtor and creditor, relationship existing between two persons in which one, the debtor, can be compelled to furnish services, money, or goods to the other, the creditor. This relationship may be created by the failure of the debtor to pay damages to the injured party or to pay a fine to the

bankruptcy: …and France) provided for the discharge of the unpaid portion of pre-bankruptcy creditors under certain conditions.

caricature and cartoon: France: The French painter and engraver Philibert-Louis Debucourt might have equalled Rowlandson if he had not been so occupied with the intricacies of colour prints; but he produced a few superb cartoons of the Paris of his day, full of caricatures of fashionable personages.

computer program: …translating at each step; and debuggers, which execute a program piecemeal and monitor various circumstances, enabling the programmer to check whether the operation of the program is correct or not.

Cameroon: Climate of Cameroon: Debundscha Point on Mount Cameroon has a mean annual precipitation level of more than 400 inches (10,000 mm)—an average rarely attained elsewhere in the world—most of which falls from May to October.

Jean-Gaspard Deburau was a Bohemian-born French pantomime actor, who transformed the character of Pierrot in the traditional harlequinade. Born into a family of acrobats, Deburau from an early age performed with them on European tour and at age 15 joined the Théâtre des Funambules, a company of

Jean-Gaspard Deburau was a Bohemian-born French pantomime actor, who transformed the character of Pierrot in the traditional harlequinade. Born into a family of acrobats, Deburau from an early age performed with them on European tour and at age 15 joined the Théâtre des Funambules, a company of

Jean-Gaspard Deburau was a Bohemian-born French pantomime actor, who transformed the character of Pierrot in the traditional harlequinade. Born into a family of acrobats, Deburau from an early age performed with them on European tour and at age 15 joined the Théâtre des Funambules, a company of

Dave DeBusschere was an American basketball player who became the youngest coach in National Basketball Association (NBA) history when at age 24 he became player-coach for the Detroit Pistons; he later provided tenacious defense and sturdy rebounding during six seasons as a forward with the New

Dave DeBusschere was an American basketball player who became the youngest coach in National Basketball Association (NBA) history when at age 24 he became player-coach for the Detroit Pistons; he later provided tenacious defense and sturdy rebounding during six seasons as a forward with the New

Claude Debussy was a French composer whose works were a seminal force in the music of the 20th century. He developed a highly original system of harmony and musical structure that expressed in many respects the ideals to which the Impressionist and Symbolist painters and writers of his time

Claude Debussy was a French composer whose works were a seminal force in the music of the 20th century. He developed a highly original system of harmony and musical structure that expressed in many respects the ideals to which the Impressionist and Symbolist painters and writers of his time

Björk: …moving to London, Björk released Debut, her first international solo album, in 1993. It was a departure from the harder-edged sound of the Sugarcubes and included a wide variety of musical styles ranging from techno-pop to jazz. Debut produced a number of hit singles, including “Big Time Sensuality” and “Venus…

debutante, a young woman who is making a formal entrance into society. So-called debutante balls, dating back to at least the 18th century, were originally intended as an avenue through which to present young women eligible for marriage to prospective high-society partners. Modern balls, however,

Idriss Déby was a military leader and politician who ruled Chad after he seized power in 1990 until his death in 2021. Déby was born into a family of the Zaghawa ethnic group in the Ennedi region of northeastern Chad. In the early 1970s, while the country was in the grips of a long-running civil

Chad: 2021 election, death of Déby, and military coup: Déby’s son, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, was named interim president. Because of the military’s disregard for the constitutional succession plan, the installation of a military transitional government was regarded as a coup.

Idriss Déby was a military leader and politician who ruled Chad after he seized power in 1990 until his death in 2021. Déby was born into a family of the Zaghawa ethnic group in the Ennedi region of northeastern Chad. In the early 1970s, while the country was in the grips of a long-running civil

liquid: Molecular structure and charge distribution: …therefore, usually are measured in debyes (one debye is 10-18 esu-cm). For nonpolar molecules, μ = 0.

plasma: Plasma oscillations and parameters: …main spatial parameter is the Debye length, h, which is the distance traveled by the average thermal electron in time τ/2π. A plasma can be defined in terms of these parameters as a partially or fully ionized gas that satisfies the following criteria: (1) a constituent electron may complete many…

Peter Debye was a physical chemist whose investigations of dipole moments, X-rays, and light scattering in gases brought him the 1936 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. After receiving a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Munich (1908), Debye taught physics at the universities of Zürich, Utrecht,

Peter Debye was a physical chemist whose investigations of dipole moments, X-rays, and light scattering in gases brought him the 1936 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. After receiving a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Munich (1908), Debye taught physics at the universities of Zürich, Utrecht,

Peter Debye was a physical chemist whose investigations of dipole moments, X-rays, and light scattering in gases brought him the 1936 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. After receiving a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Munich (1908), Debye taught physics at the universities of Zürich, Utrecht,

Debye-Hückel equation, a mathematical expression derived to elucidate certain properties of solutions of electrolytes, that is, substances present in the solutions in the form of charged particles (ions). Such solutions often behave as if the number of dissolved particles were greater or less than

Paul Scherrer: The Debye–Scherrer method is widely used to identify materials that do not readily form large, perfect crystals.

Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), American manufacturer that created a new line of low-cost computers, known as minicomputers, especially for use in laboratories and research institutions. Founded in 1957, the company employed more than 120,000 people worldwide at its peak in 1990 and earned

zero-energy building: The United Kingdom’s EPC scheme: Display Energy Certificates (DECs) are also required for larger public buildings, thus enabling everyone to see how energy efficient the country’s public buildings are. The DEC has to be displayed at all times in a prominent place clearly visible to the public, and it is…

organometallic compound: The structure of metal carbonyls: …more metal atoms, such as decacarbonyldimanganese and octacarbonyldicobalt, shown here.

Antonio de Guevara: …Praise of Village Life”), and La década de Césares (1539; “The Ten Caesars”), a rather shallow historical work—also managed to achieve popularity during his lifetime. His work is now considered of little more than historical interest, clearly reflecting the prevailing tastes of the court of Charles V.

climate change: Decadal variation: Climate varies on decadal timescales, with multiyear clusters of wet, dry, cool, or warm conditions. These multiyear clusters can have dramatic effects on human activities and welfare. For instance, a severe three-year drought in the late 16th century probably contributed to the destruction…

climate change: Decadal variation: Climate varies on decadal timescales, with multiyear clusters of wet, dry, cool, or warm conditions. These multiyear clusters can have dramatic effects on human activities and welfare. For instance, a severe three-year drought in the late 16th century probably contributed to the destruction…