I can't get the actual icon back for you without a little more research, but according to my dock, the icon next to the trash is a "@" on a spring. Clicking it launches Safari and takes me to http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/ . It isn't really that critical of a link - you just freed up Dock space for something important... like perhaps your applications folder (I have found that handy) and because of you, I have just removed that same icon you inadverdently removed. So thank you for helping me de-clutter my Dock.
Dock items are aliases... that is, they are only pointers to the real thing. When you drag an icon off the dock, the alias is removed, not the real thing. That said, the thing you removed must be *somewhere*, I just don't know where. You will notice a very thin line that sets the Trash apart from the other application aliases in the Dock. When you add Application icons to the Dock, they will be added to the "other" side of the line. When you add folders (like the Application folder) or documents to the Dock, they will be on the same side as the Trash...
You are not being a dope... Maybe mrmacfixit knows how to recover that icon and its [in my opinion] not-so-important functionality...
Or, I should say, I accidentally dragged it (instead of the document that was right above it) off the Dock and (apparently) into oblivion. I don't even know its name, but it was the one right next to the Trash. No, it's not in the Trash.
How can I get it back? I don't know whether I wanted it on the Dock because I'm still wandering about in OS X (delayed because I was away so long, tending to my mother), but I'd like to have a chance to find out.
Sorry to be such a dope. Thanks, in advance, for help finding and restoring the item, which I assume is possible.
jenny

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