Tropical American yam with small yellow-skinned edible tubers; SYN. Dioscorea trifida.
kind of yam.

Any climbing plant of the genus Dioscorea, family Dioscoreaceae, cultivated in tropical regions; its starchy tubers are eaten as a vegetable. The Mexican yam D. composita contains a chemical used in the manufacture of the contraceptive pill.
1. Any of a number of tropical vines of the genus Dioscorea many having edible tuberous roots; SYN. yam plant.
2. Edible tuber of any of several yams.
3. Edible tuberous root of various yam plants of the genus Dioscorea grown in the tropics world-wide for food.
4. Sweet potato with deep orange flesh that remains moist when baked.

1. A cart for carrying small loads; has handles and one or more wheels; SYN. garden cart, lawn cart, wheelbarrow.
2. The quantity that a barrow will hold; SYN. barrowful.

(Homonym: bury).
1. A pulpy and usually edible small fruit having any of various structures: e.g. strawberry or raspberry or blueberry.
2. Any of numerous small edible pulpy fruits either simple (grape; blueberry) or aggregate (blackberry; raspberry).
Fleshy, many-seeded fruit that does not split open to release the seeds. The outer layer of tissue, the exocarp, forms an outer skin that is often brightly colored to attract birds to eat the fruit and thus disperse the seeds. Examples of berries are the tomato and the grape.
A pepo is a type of berry that has developed a hard exterior, such as the cucumber fruit. Another is the hesperidium, which has a thick, leathery outer layer, such as that found in citrus fruits, and fluid-containing vesicles within, which form the segments.

ETYM See Borough.
(Homonym: burrow).
A hole in the ground made by an animal for shelter; SYN. tunnel.

ETYM Latin caverna, from cavus hollow: cf. French caverne.
1. A large cave or a large chamber in a cave.
2. Any large dark enclosed space.

ETYM Latin chasma, Greek, from chainein to gape, to open wide. Related to Chaos.
A deep opening in the earth's surface.

ETYM French See Crevice.
A deep fissure.
Deep chasm in glacier.
Deep crack in the surface of a glacier; it can reach several meters in depth. Crevasses often occur where a glacier flows over the break of a slope, because the upper layers of ice are unable to stretch and cracks result. Crevasses may also form at the edges of glaciers owing to friction with the bedrock.

ETYM AS. croft; akin to Dutch kroft hillock; cf. Gael. croit hump, croft.
(Great Britain) A small farm worked by a crofter.
Small farm in the Highlands of Scotland, traditionally farming common land cooperatively; the 1886 Crofters Act gave security of tenure to crofters. Today, although grazing land is still shared, arable land is typically enclosed.
Crofting is the only form of subsistence farming found in the UK.

ETYM AS. dael; akin to LG., Dutch, Swed., Dan., OS., and Goth. dal, Icel. dalr, Old High Germ. tal, German thal, and perh. to Greek tholos a rotunda, Skr. dhâra depth. Related to Dell.
(British) An open river valley (in a hilly area).

ETYM AS. delf a delving, digging. Related to Delve.
(British colloquialism) An excavation; usually a quarry or mine.
Drain; ditch; excavation.

ETYM AS. del, akin to Eng. dale; cf. Dutch delle, del, low ground. Related to Dale.
A small wooded hollow; SYN. dingle.

ETYM AS. denn; perh. akin to German tenne floor, thrashing floor, and to AS. denu valley.
A room that is comfortable and secluded.

ETYM Old Eng. hol, hole, AS. hol, hole, cavern, from hol, hollow.
(Homonym: whole).
1. A depression hollowed out of solid matter; SYN. hollow.
2. A fault.
3. An opening deliberately made in or through something.
4. An opening into or through something.
5. An unoccupied space.
6. One unit of play from tee to green on a golf course.

ETYM Old Eng. pit, put, as. pytt a pit, hole, Latin puteus a well, pit.
1. A concavity in a surface (especially an anatomical depression); SYN. fossa.
> 2. A sizeable hole (usually in the ground); SYN. cavity.
3. A trap in the form of a concealed hole; SYN. pitfall.
4. An open-surface excavation for extracting stone or slate; SYN. quarry, stone pit.
5. The stone-like seed at the core of certain fruits.

An unforeseen or unexpected difficulty.

1. A hollow concave shape made by removing something; SYN. pocket.
2. A large ladle
3. The quantity a scoop will hold; SYN. scoopful.
4. The shovel or bucket of dredge or backhoe; SYN. scoop shovel.

ETYM Old Eng. trenche, French tranchée. Related to Trench.
(Irregular plural: trenches).
1. A ditch dug as a fortification having a parapet of the excavated earth.
2. A long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor.
3. Any long cut made in the ground.

(Criminal law) Money that must be forfeited by the bondsman if an accused person fails to appear in court for trial; SYN. bail bond, bond.
(Homonym: bale).
A security, bonds, or money deposited with the court to obtain the temporary release of an arrested person, on the assurance that the person will obey the court, as by attending a legal proceeding at a stated time and place. If the person does not attend, the bail may be forfeited.
While the US Constitution nominally guarantees individuals right to reasonable bail, in effect availability of bail and amounts of security necessary to secure bail are set by judges, based on judges' evaluations of the likelihood that a defendant will appear, or likelihood of further criminal acts or danger to the public, on the severity of the charge, and on the economic standing of the accused.

ETYM Latin, from spondere, sponsum, to engage one's self. Related to Spose.
1. One who offers sponsorship to another.
2. One who, at the baptism of an infant, guarantees its religious education; a godfather or godmother.

Island in the Caribbean Sea, S of Cuba and W of Haiti.
government
The 1962 constitution follows closely the unwritten British model, with a resident constitutional head of state, the governor-general, representing the British monarch and appointing a prime minister and cabinet, collectively responsible to the legislature. This consists of two chambers, an appointed 21-member senate and a 60-member elected house of representatives. Normally, 13 of the senators are appointed on the advice of the prime minister and 8 on the advice of the leader of the opposition. Members of the house are elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term, but the house is subject to dissolution within that period.
history
Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus 1494, the island was inhabited by Arawak Indians. From 1509 to 1655 it was a Spanish colony, and after this was in British hands until 1959, when it was granted internal self-government, achieving full independence within the Commonwealth 1962.
after independence
The two leading political figures in the early days of independence were Alexander Bustamante, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and Norman Manley, leader of the People's National Party (PNP). The JLP won the 1962 and 1967 elections, led by Bustamante's successor, Hugh Shearer, but the PNP, under Norman Manley's son Michael, was successful 1972. He advocated social reform and economic independence from the industrialized world. Despite high unemployment, Manley was returned to power 1976 with an increased majority, but by 1980 the economy had deteriorated, and, rejecting the conditions attached to a loan from the International Monetary Fund, Manley sought support for his policies of economic self-reliance.
political violence
The 1980 general election campaign was extremely violent, despite calls by Manley and the leader of the JLP, Edward Seaga, for moderation. The outcome was a decisive victory for the JLP, with 51 of the 60 seats in the house of representatives. Seaga thus received a mandate for a return to a renewal of links with the US and an emphasis on free enterprise. He severed diplomatic links with Cuba 1981. In 1983 Seaga called an early, snap election, with the opposition claiming they had been given insufficient time to nominate their candidates. The JLP won all 60 seats. There were violent demonstrations when the new parliament was inaugurated, and the PNP said it would continue its opposition outside the parliamentary arena. In 1989 Manley and the PNP were elected. The new prime minister pledged to pursue moderate economic policies and improve relations with the US. In 1992 Manley resigned the premiership on the grounds of ill health. P J Patterson, the former finance minister, was chosen as Manley's successor and i
n the 1993 general election he led the PNP to a landslide victory.
1. A country on the island of Jamaica; became independent of England in 1962; much poverty; the major industry is tourism.
2. An island in the West Indies south of Cuba and west of Haiti.
3. City in Iowa (USA); zip code 50128.

ETYM Cf. French iambe. Related to Lambus.
A metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables; SYN. iambus.
Poetic foot consisting of short then a long syllable.

Metrical foot of one short followed by one long syllable.

ETYM Latin iambicus, Greek: cf. French iambique.
(Prosody) Of or consisting of iambs.

Small depression resembling pockmark; Geology, small light-colored sphere found in type of igneous rock.

ETYM Prob. a nasalized dim. of dip. Related to Dip, Dimble.
1. A small natural hollow in the cheek or chin.
2. Any slight depression in a surface.

A toxic mixture of gases (including carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide and nitrogen) after an explosion of firedamp in a mine.