Black Hand, symbol and name for a criminal and terroristic secret society, and especially associated with the Mafia and the Camorra. The Black Hand flourished in Sicily in the late 19th cent.,...

Hand, Learned, 1872–1961, American jurist, b. Albany, N.Y. He received his law degree from Harvard in 1896. He was a judge of the U.S. District Court for New York's Southern District (1909–24)...

Hand, Wayland Debs, 1907–86, folklorist, b. Auckland, New Zealand. Hand wrote Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from North Carolina (1964), which is ranked among the finest published studies o...

Abner, in the Bible, relative of Saul and commander in chief of his army. Jealousy and revenge probably caused his death at Joab's hands.

Pekahiah, in the Bible, king of Israel, son and successor of Menahem. His reign was ended by his murder at the hands of his general Pekah.

Baccarat, French card game formerly widely played in European casinos but now supplanted in popularity by chemin de fer. The banker plays against the hands he deals to two other players called...

Aroer, border town, on the north side of the Arnon River and E of the Dead Sea, the modern Arair (Jordan). Aroer, which changed hands frequently, is mentioned in the Moabite stone.

Nemean lion, in Greek mythology, an enormous lion, said to be the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. It was invulnerable to all weapons until Hercules, in his first labor, strangled it with his ...

Synecdoche, figure of speech, a species of metaphor, in which a part of a person or thing is used to designate the whole—thus, The house was built by 40 hands for The house was built by 20 peo...

Heimlich maneuver, emergency procedure used to treat choking victims whose airway is obstructed by food or another substance. It forces air from the lungs through the windpipe, pushing the obs...