roller coaster: Expansion in the United States: His underfriction wheels, or upstop wheels (1919), kept coaster cars locked on their tracks, which enabled them to safely reach high speeds, bank suddenly, and turn upside down.

vulvitis: …reactions from direct contact with underwear or commercial hygiene products. The vulva can become the site of infections by bacteria, fungi, or viruses, and vulvitis may also accompany similar infections of the vagina (vaginitis). Depletion of estrogen, as occurs in postmenopausal women, can lead to drying and thinning of the…

pottery: Porcelain: …painted wares were decorated in underglaze blue with typically Baroque patterns, including the lambrequins introduced at Rouen. Motifs derived from the designs of Jean Bérain are also to be seen. Polychrome specimens, some of which were decorated in the style of Kakiemon, (see below Japan: Edo period), date from about…

resistance, in European history, any of various secret and clandestine groups that sprang up throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II to oppose Nazi rule. The exact number of those who took part is unknown, but they included civilians who worked secretly against the occupation as well

Emir Kusturica: Hollywood and a second Golden Palm: …his next movie, Podzemlje (1995; Underground), Kusturica won his second Golden Palm, joining a small group of directors who had twice won the top prize at Cannes: Alf Sjöberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Bille August. The movie is a parable on the breakup of Yugoslavia, including a memorable scene of…

reggaeton, genre of music largely shaped by the African diaspora, blending such styles as dancehall from Jamaica, reggae en español from Panama, el underground from Puerto Rico, and hip-hop from the United States. Reggaeton’s signature characteristics include a beat called “dem bow” and lyrics sung

Regina M. Anderson: …theatre produced her one-act play Underground, about the Underground Railroad. Both plays were written under her pseudonym. The Negro Experimental Theatre served as an inspiration to little-theatre groups around the country, and it was especially influential in the encouragement of serious black theatre and of black playwrights. Anderson also coedited…

subway, underground railway system used to transport large numbers of passengers within urban and suburban areas. Subways are usually built under city streets for ease of construction, but they may take shortcuts and sometimes must pass under rivers. Outlying sections of a system usually emerge

cable: Electric power cables: …power cable is installed in underground ducts and is extensively used in cities where lack of space or considerations of safety preclude the use of overhead lines. Unlike an aerial cable, a buried cable invariably uses commercially pure copper or aluminum (mechanical strength is not a problem underground), and the…

tunnels and underground excavations: Underground chambers, often associated with a complex of connecting tunnels and shafts, increasingly are being used for such things as underground hydroelectric-power plants, ore-processing plants, pumping stations, vehicle parking, storage of oil and water, water-treatment plants, warehouses, and light manufacturing; also command centres and other…

graphic novel: From comic strips to comic books: …with it a new term—comix—denoting X-rated and taboo content that responded to the counterculture movement. Although such work was clearly adult-orientated, it was also distinguished from the mainstream by its distribution and its material quality. Underground comix circulated via “head shops” (stores that sold marijuana pipes and other drug…

graphic novel: From comic strips to comic books: …with it a new term—comix—denoting X-rated and taboo content that responded to the counterculture movement. Although such work was clearly adult-orientated, it was also distinguished from the mainstream by its distribution and its material quality. Underground comix circulated via “head shops” (stores that sold marijuana pipes and other drug…

tunnels and underground excavations: excavations, horizontal underground passageway produced by excavation or occasionally by nature’s action in dissolving a soluble rock, such as limestone. A vertical opening is usually called a shaft. Tunnels have many uses: for mining ores, for transportation—including road vehicles, trains,

Tunisia: Housing: …to the region are the underground dwellings found in the rural southeastern part of the country. These structures were designed for habitation in a harsh, arid environment and generally consist of a sunken central courtyard surrounded by individual family dwellings, storage areas, and workrooms, all of which are built into…

underground economy, transaction of goods or services not reported to the government and therefore beyond the reach of tax collectors and regulators. The term may refer either to illegal activities or to ordinarily legal activities performed without the securing of required licenses and payment of

tunnels and underground excavations: excavations, horizontal underground passageway produced by excavation or occasionally by nature’s action in dissolving a soluble rock, such as limestone. A vertical opening is usually called a shaft. Tunnels have many uses: for mining ores, for transportation—including road vehicles, trains,

underground film, motion picture made and distributed outside the commercial film industry, usually as an artistic expression of its maker, who often acts as its producer, director, writer, photographer, and editor. Underground films usually display greater freedom in form, technique, and content

Tunisia: Housing: …to the region are the underground dwellings found in the rural southeastern part of the country. These structures were designed for habitation in a harsh, arid environment and generally consist of a sunken central courtyard surrounded by individual family dwellings, storage areas, and workrooms, all of which are built into…

mining: Underground mining: When any ore body lies a considerable distance below the surface, the amount of waste that has to be removed in order to uncover the ore through surface mining becomes prohibitive, and underground techniques must be considered. Counting against underground mining are the…

Underground Railroad, in the United States, a system existing in the Northern states before the Civil War by which escaped slaves from the South were secretly helped by sympathetic Northerners, in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Acts, to reach places of safety in the North or in Canada. Though

12 Contemporary Black Authors You Must Read: Colson Whitehead: His first Pulitzer was for The Underground Railroad, which tells the story of a young woman who escapes slavery by following the tracks of a railroad located underground—a literal reimagining of the real Underground Railroad. He won his second Pulitzer for The Nickel Boys. Set in the 1960s, the novel…

Barry Jenkins: …project was the TV miniseries The Underground Railroad (2021), adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about an enslaved teenager who escapes the Georgia plantation where she lives. In addition to directing, Jenkins also cowrote several episodes.

subway, underground railway system used to transport large numbers of passengers within urban and suburban areas. Subways are usually built under city streets for ease of construction, but they may take shortcuts and sometimes must pass under rivers. Outlying sections of a system usually emerge

fur: …elements: a dense undercoat, called ground hair, and longer hairs, extending beyond that layer, called guard hair. The principal function of ground hair is to maintain the animal’s body temperature; that of guard hair is to protect the underlying fur and skin and to shed rain or snow. Pelts that…

mining: Cut-and-fill mining: In underhand cut-and-fill mining, work progresses from the top downward. In this latter case cement must be added to the fill to form a strong roof under which to work.

Evelyn Underhill was an English mystical poet and author of such works as Mysticism (1911), The Mystic Way (1913), and Worship (1936), which helped establish mystical theology as a respectable discipline among contemporary intellectuals. Underhill was a lifelong Anglican, but she was also attracted

Suzanne Collins: …what became known as the Underland Chronicles soon followed. Despite the series’ intended audience, Collins—influenced by the lessons her father had taught her as a military historian and a Vietnam War veteran—straightforwardly introduced to its narrative such grim “adult” issues as genocide and biological warfare.

nutritional disease: Nutrient deficiencies: …significant nutrition-related disease is chronic undernutrition, which plagues more than 925 million people worldwide. Undernutrition is a condition in which there is insufficient food to meet energy needs; its main characteristics include weight loss, failure to thrive, and wasting of body fat and muscle. Low birth weight in infants, inadequate…

Carl Sternheim: …first play, Die Hose (The Underpants), was published and performed in 1911 under the title Der Riese (“The Giant”) because the Berlin police had forbidden the original title on the grounds of gross immorality. It has as its main character Theobald Maske. He and others of the Maske family…

human endocrine system: Endocrine hypofunction and receptor defects: …in hormone production, known as hypofunction, is required to maintain homeostasis. One example of hypofunction is decreased production of thyroid hormones during starvation and illness. Because the thyroid hormones control energy expenditure, there is survival value in slowing the body’s metabolism when food intake is low. Thus, there is a…

felsic and mafic rocks: rocks as oversaturated, saturated, or undersaturated with respect to silica. Felsic rocks are commonly oversaturated and contain free quartz (SiO2), intermediate rocks contain little or no quartz or feldspathoids (undersaturated minerals), and mafic rocks may contain abundant feldspathoids. This broad grouping on the basis of mineralogy related to silica content…

undersea cable, assembly of conductors enclosed by an insulating sheath and laid on the ocean floor for the transmission of messages. Undersea cables for transmitting telegraph signals antedated the invention of the telephone; the first undersea telegraph cable was laid in 1850 between England and

undersea exploration, the investigation and description of the ocean waters and the seafloor and of the Earth beneath. Included in the scope of undersea exploration are the physical and chemical properties of seawater, all manner of life in the sea, and the geological and geophysical features of

undersea exploration, the investigation and description of the ocean waters and the seafloor and of the Earth beneath. Included in the scope of undersea exploration are the physical and chemical properties of seawater, all manner of life in the sea, and the geological and geophysical features of

waterwheel: …with the wheel: first, the undershot wheel; second, the breast wheel; and third, the overshot wheel. These waterwheels generally used the energy of moving streams, but tidal mills also appeared in the 11th century.

petticoat, in modern usage, an underskirt worn by women. The petycote (probably derived from the Old French petite cote, “little coat”) appeared in literature in the 15th century in reference to a kind of padded waistcoat, or undercoat, worn for warmth over the shirt by men. The petticoat developed

Rasmus Rask: …eller Islandske Sprogs Oprindelse (1818; Investigation of the Origin of the Old Norse or Icelandic Language). It was primarily an examination and comparison of the Scandinavian languages with Latin and Greek. Rask was the first to indicate that the Celtic languages, which include Breton, Welsh, and Irish, belong to the…

pedagogy: Mental-discipline theories: Understanding had to precede learning, and, according to the Jesuits, the teacher’s first task was careful preparation of the material to be taught (the prelection). But even with that greater awareness of the learner’s needs, the concept of mental discipline still underlay the whole process…

Baltic Entente: …the three nations signed the Treaty of Understanding and Cooperation at Geneva.

An annuity is an insurance contract that guarantees regular payouts based on how much you’ve paid or accumulated over time. Annuities provide stable income, making them especially attractive in retirement, but they aren’t suitable for everyone. Fees and complex terms can reduce an annuity’s value,

Cash-value life insurance offers a twist on traditional life insurance: It accumulates value over time that you can use while you’re still alive. Life insurance is designed to provide financial support to your beneficiaries when you die, replacing lost income. Many policyholders like that idea, but

Each month, two reports aim to measure the “mood” of American households regarding both their own finances and the economy at large. Because consumer mood is closely associated with spending habits, tracking consumer confidence and consumer sentiment data can help investors better understand the

Credit cards. They’re the go-to choice for millions of consumer purchases, but we also have a love/hate relationship with them. Credit cards can be a tool that helps you stay on top of your money, but they also come with a downside—particularly high interest rate charges if you carry a balance.

Life insurance comes in two basic forms: Term life insurance and permanent life insurance. Term insurance is similar to other insurance products you might already have, such as homeowner’s (or rental) and auto insurance. It provides a “death benefit” if the insured person dies during the term. Key

Staying on top of how you spend each month can be draining, especially when you’re first starting out as a working adult. That tiresome feeling of fretting over whether you have enough in your bank account to cover your bills has a name: frugal fatigue. Much like feeling burned out at work, frugal

literature: Modern popular literature: Marshall McLuhan in his book Understanding Media (1964) became famous for erecting a whole structure of aesthetic, sociological, and philosophical theory upon this fact. But it remains to be seen whether the new, fluent materials of communication are going to make so very many changes in civilization, let alone in…

A mutual fund is a collection of investments, such as stocks and bonds, that you can buy as a single investment. For many decades, mutual funds have been a mainstay of company 401(k) plans and investment accounts, as they allow smaller investors to participate in a wide array of securities in one

Public benefit corporations (PBCs) provide businesses with a structure that balances profit and purpose. These entities merge elements of for-profit corporations and nonprofit organizations, allowing companies to address societal or environmental challenges while generating returns for

Imagine you’ve scrimped and saved for decades to build a decent nest egg. You’re ready to retire and know how much you can withdraw from your retirement account each year. But then stocks take a dive. You retire into a bear market, and at the end of a couple of rough years, you’re not sure your

Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) sound a lot like exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but don’t confuse these two investment vehicles. There are significant differences in how they’re structured, and thus the implications for you as a potential ETN investor. ETNs are unsecured (meaning, not backed by

Claudia Goldin: Contributions to economic history and labor economics: In her book Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women (1990), Goldin identified actual trends in women’s employment in the United States that had been obscured by misleading official data (or the absence of official data), finding that the beginning of widespread industrialization—the shift from…

What is income? On the surface, it’s an easy answer: any money you receive. And it’s essential to your financial well-being, from paying your bills to funding your goals to building your retirement nest egg. Even if you have substantial assets, your regular expenses will eventually draw down your

If you’ve ever implicitly trusted that the terms you receive from a lender are accurate and legally binding, then you may have the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Regulation Z to thank for that. TILA and Reg Z sound like TikTok slang, but are actually highly specific rules that govern consumer

new religious movement: Scientific NRMs: UFO groups and Scientology: …the 1950s, groups such as Understanding, Inc., founded by Daniel Fry (who claimed to be a contactee), argued that UFOs carried beings who had come to Earth to promote world peace and personal development. The Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of America, led by Gabriel Green, and the Aetherius Society, organized…

rhetoric: Elements of rhetoric: …hyperbole (overstatement or exaggeration) or understatement, and metonymy (substituting one word for another which it suggests or to which it is in some way related—as part to whole, sometimes known as synecdoche). To the latter category belonged such figures as allegory, parallelism (constructing sentences or phrases that resemble one another…

horticulture: Grafting: …the root is called the stock; the added piece is called the scion. When more than two parts are involved, the middle piece is called the interstock. When the scion consists of a single bud, the process is called budding. Grafting and budding are the most widely used of the…

primate: Forest and savanna: …rainforests are broadly distinguishable: an understory, a middle story, and an upper story. The understory, consisting of shrubs and saplings, is often “closed,” the crowns of the constituent trees overlapping one another to form a dense continuous horizontal layer. The middle story is characterized by trees that are in lateral…

Dave Bautista: Wrestling: …including a memorable battle against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 23 (2007). In 2012 Bautista briefly pursued mixed martial arts, winning his debut against Vince Lucero with a technical knockout in the first round. He returned to WWE for several matches in 2014 and in 2019 gave the Batista character a…

Edmund Charles Blunden: His Undertones of War (1928; new ed. 1956), which established his international reputation, is one of the most moving books about World War I, all the more compelling for its restraint. The war interrupted his studies at Oxford, but he returned in 1919, moving the following…

undertow, a strong seaward bottom current returning the water of broken waves back out to sea. There is in fact no such current in a gross sense, for the overall flow of surface water toward the shore in a surf zone is very small. The water actually thrown up on the shore by breaking waves does

children’s literature: Norway: …available in English translation as Undertow in 1968, and who also wrote successfully for girls; Leif Hamre, specializing in air force adventures; the prolific, widely translated Aimée Sommerfelt, whose works range from “puberty novels” to faraway stories set in Mexico City and northern India; Thorbjørn Egner, who is the author…

Henrik Pontoppidan: …collected and abridged version, entitled Undervejs til mig selv (1943; “On the Way to Myself”).

Bush v. Gore: Background: …the same office) and “undervotes” (ballots that recorded no vote for a given office). Also at issue was the so-called butterfly ballot design used in Palm Beach county, which caused confusion among some residents who had intended to vote for Gore—leading them to inadvertently cast some 3,400 votes for…

archaeology: Underwater archaeology: Underwater archaeology is a branch of reconnaissance and excavation that has been developed only during the 20th century. It involves the same techniques of observation, discovery, and recording that are the basis of archaeology on land, but adapted to the special conditions of…

ship: Design of the hull: …of their efforts is the underwater bulb often attached to the bows of ships. The purpose of the bulb is to produce a wave that will tend to cancel the ordinary bow wave.

Navy SEAL: History: …combat demolition units (NCDUs) and underwater demolition teams (UDTs) whose “frogmen” were trained to destroy obstacles on enemy-held beaches prior to amphibious landings in Europe and the Pacific. Other special units of that war were scouts and raiders, who were assigned to reconnoitre coastal areas and guide landing craft to…

underwater diving, swimming done underwater either with a minimum of equipment, as in skin diving (free diving), or with a scuba (abbreviation of self-contained underwater-breathing apparatus) or an Aqua-Lung. Competitive underwater diving sports include spearfishing and underwater hockey,

hydrotherapy: Underwater exercise is used to strengthen weak muscles, restore joint motion following injury, clean and heal burned flesh, aid muscle function following cerebrovascular accident damage, and as a treatment for deformity and pain in arthritis and related ailments.

undersea exploration, the investigation and description of the ocean waters and the seafloor and of the Earth beneath. Included in the scope of undersea exploration are the physical and chemical properties of seawater, all manner of life in the sea, and the geological and geophysical features of

Carol Ann Duffy: …children, including the picture books Underwater Farmyard (2002), The Tear Thief (2007), The Princess’s Blankets (2009), and Dorothy Wordsworth’s Christmas Birthday (2014), as well as the poetry collection The Hat (2007). She continued to produce verse for adults as well, notably issuing the collections Love Poems (2010), The Bees

submarine mine, underwater weapon designed to explode when a target presents itself. See

halogen lamp: …also used in automobile headlights, underwater photography, and residential lighting.

underwater diving, swimming done underwater either with a minimum of equipment, as in skin diving (free diving), or with a scuba (abbreviation of self-contained underwater-breathing apparatus) or an Aqua-Lung. Competitive underwater diving sports include spearfishing and underwater hockey,

undersea exploration, the investigation and description of the ocean waters and the seafloor and of the Earth beneath. Included in the scope of undersea exploration are the physical and chemical properties of seawater, all manner of life in the sea, and the geological and geophysical features of

tactical weapons system: Surface-to-surface systems: Underwater weapons, intended to disable submarines or surface vessels, are considered surface-to-surface systems. They include various homing or guided torpedoes using sonar tracking systems. Germany makes a wire-guided torpedo. Sweden’s antisubmarine weapons system uses a missile that is preprogrammed for its course on the basis…

John Sturges: Bad, Magnificent, and Great: Underwater! (1955), however, was far less memorable; the deep-sea drama starred Jane Russell, Richard Egan, and Gilbert Roland. Slightly better was The Scarlet Coat (1955), a Revolutionary War drama about Benedict Arnold; Cornel Wilde played a colonial spy. Sturges returned to the Wild West

undersea exploration: Exploration of the seafloor and the Earth’s crust: The underway bottom sampler, or scoopfish, is designed to sample rapidly without stopping the ship. It is lowered to depths less than 200 metres from a ship moving at speeds no more than 28 kilometres per hour. The sampler weighs five kilograms and can capture samples…

vulvitis: …reactions from direct contact with underwear or commercial hygiene products. The vulva can become the site of infections by bacteria, fungi, or viruses, and vulvitis may also accompany similar infections of the vagina (vaginitis). Depletion of estrogen, as occurs in postmenopausal women, can lead to drying and thinning of the…

body mass index: …weight status groupings, such as underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and obese, that are adjusted for age and sex. For all adults over age 20, BMI numbers correlate to the same weight status designations. For example, a BMI for adult women and men between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered healthy. A…

Lepidoptera: Protection against danger: When moths such as the underwing moths (Catocala) are disturbed, they move the cryptic forewings to expose bright patches of color on the upper surface of the hind wings. When butterflies such as the morphos, hairstreaks, and anglewings are disturbed, they take flight, exposing brightly colored upper wing surfaces. Regardless…

Carrie Underwood is an American country music performer who parlayed her victory in the television singing competition American Idol into a successful recording career. Her notable albums included Some Hearts (2005), Carnival Ride (2007), Play On (2009), and Cry Pretty (2018). Underwood grew up in

Carrie Underwood is an American country music performer who parlayed her victory in the television singing competition American Idol into a successful recording career. Her notable albums included Some Hearts (2005), Carnival Ride (2007), Play On (2009), and Cry Pretty (2018). Underwood grew up in

Francis Henry Underwood was an American author and lawyer who became a founder of The Atlantic Monthly in order to further the antislavery cause. Following a year at Amherst (Mass.) College, Underwood went to Kentucky where he studied law. There his strong aversion to slavery was heightened by

John Glassco was a Canadian author whose poetry, short stories, novels, memoirs, and translations are notable for their versatility and sophistication. Glassco abandoned his studies at McGill University, Montreal, to join the expatriate community in Paris, an experience he chronicled in the

Oscar W. Underwood was a U.S. congressman from Alabama (1895–1927) who drafted the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913. After studying law at the University of Virginia he was admitted to the bar in 1884. Underwood settled in Birmingham, Ala., and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1895–96;

Oscar W. Underwood was a U.S. congressman from Alabama (1895–1927) who drafted the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913. After studying law at the University of Virginia he was admitted to the bar in 1884. Underwood settled in Birmingham, Ala., and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1895–96;

canning: Prescott and William Underwood of the United States set canning on a scientific basis by describing specific time-temperature heating requirements for sterilizing canned foods.

Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act, U.S. legislation enacted in October 1913 that lowered average tariff rates from about 40 percent to about 27 percent and reintroduced a federal income tax. The legislation, which fulfilled a key plank in Woodrow Wilson’s 1912 presidential campaign, is named after

fur: …elements: a dense undercoat, called ground hair, and longer hairs, extending beyond that layer, called guard hair. The principal function of ground hair is to maintain the animal’s body temperature; that of guard hair is to protect the underlying fur and skin and to shed rain or snow. Pelts that…

American literature: Multicultural writing: …family portraits; and Don DeLillo’s Underworld (1997), a brooding, resonant, oblique account of the Cold War era as seen through the eyes of both fictional characters and historical figures. All three novels testify to a belated convergence of Social Realism and Pynchonesque invention. Pynchon himself returned to form with sprawling,…

Josef von Sternberg: Films of the late 1920s: …Sternberg’s first film at Paramount, Underworld (1927), was a seminal gangster drama that made the many others that followed possible. George Bancroft starred as the remorseless mobster “Bull” Weed; Evelyn Brent played his moll Feathers; and Clive Brook played his lieutenant Rolls Royce, who also loves Feathers. In The Last…

heaven: Ancient Mesopotamia: …in the middle, and the underworld below. The high gods reign in the heavens as an assembly or council. Earth is the realm of mortal humans, whose purpose is to serve the gods by providing them with sacred dwellings, food, and tribute; it is also populated by minor gods and…

Samuel Fuller: Films of the 1960s and ’70s: …Evening Post articles, the potent Underworld U.S.A. (1961) sets an ex-con (played by Cliff Robertson) off on a lifetime of vengeance against the crime syndicate for the murder of his father. Merrill’s Marauders (1962) was a hard-boiled World War II adventure about American soldiers in Burma (Myanmar) who stop the…

insurance: Underwriting and rate making: The two basic functions in insurance are underwriting and rating, which are closely related to each other. Underwriting deals with the selection of risks, and rating deals with the pricing system applicable to the risks accepted.

insurance: Underwriting cycle: Profits in property and liability insurance have tended to rise and fall in fairly regular patterns lasting between five and seven years from peak to peak; this phenomenon is termed the underwriting cycle. Stages of the underwriting cycle may be described as follows:…

cryptorchidism, disorder in which one or both of the testes do not descend spontaneously to the usual position in the scrotum. (The testes normally descend around the time of the male infant’s birth.) Usually only one testis fails to descend into the scrotum; the other, descended testis suffices to

cryptorchidism, disorder in which one or both of the testes do not descend spontaneously to the usual position in the scrotum. (The testes normally descend around the time of the male infant’s birth.) Usually only one testis fails to descend into the scrotum; the other, descended testis suffices to

Ping Chong: …Chong began creating his series Undesirable Elements, an ongoing exploration of the experience of outsiders. Each iteration of the series was created for a specific community after Chong conducted interviews among its members. By late 2015 Chong had produced some 40 different performances in communities all over the United States…

AIDS: Transmission: …is referred to as “undetectable = untransmittable” (U = U).

schizophrenia: Schizophrenia subtypes: The simple or undifferentiated subtype of schizophrenia typically is characterized by an insidious and gradual reduction in external relations and interests. The patient’s emotions lack depth, and ideation is simple and refers to concrete things. There are a relative absence of mental activity, a progressive lessening in the…