Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

210 results found

CS, chemical compound

(Encyclopedia)CS, chemical compound (orthochlorobenzalmalonitrile) used in riot control and, by the military, as a harassing agent. The compound is dispersed as an aerosol or as a finely divided powder. Exposure to...

Thorndike, Dame Sybil

(Encyclopedia)Thorndike, Dame Sybil (Agnes Sybil Thorndike), 1882–1976, English actress. Thorndike made her debut with the Ben Greet Players and toured the United States with them (1904–7). She worked with the ...

satire

(Encyclopedia)satire, term applied to any work of literature or art whose objective is ridicule. It is more easily recognized than defined. From ancient times satirists have shared a common aim: to expose foolishne...

Bar Kokba, Simon

(Encyclopedia)Bar Kokba, Simon, or Simon Bar Cochba kōkˈbə [key] [Heb.,=son of the star], d. a.d. 135, Hebrew hero and leader of a major revolt against Rome under Hadrian (132–135). He may have claimed to be a...

Aristarchus of Samothrace

(Encyclopedia)Aristarchus of Samothrace sămˈəthrās [key], c.217–c.145 b.c., Greek scholar, successor to his teacher, Aristophanes of Byzantium, as librarian at Alexandria. He was an innovator of scientific sc...

Marrakech

(Encyclopedia)Marrakech or Marrakesh both: märäˈkĕsh, mə– [key], city (1994 pop. 672,478), W central Morocco. The city, renowned for leather goods, is one of the principal commercial centers of Morocco and a...

Andorra la Vella

(Encyclopedia)Andorra la Vella lä vĕlˈyä [key] or Andorra, Span. Andorra la Vieja, Fr. Andorre-la-Vielle, city (2006 est. pop. 24,211), capital of Andorra, on the Valira River near its confluence with the Valir...

Tay

(Encyclopedia)Tay tā [key], longest river of Scotland, 118 mi (190 km) long. It rises on Ben Lui in the Grampians as the Fillan and flows NE into Loch Dochart, where it is called the Dochart until it enters Loch T...

Cairngorms

(Encyclopedia)Cairngorms kârngôrmzˈ, kârnˈgôrmz [key], group of mountains forming part of the Grampian Mts, in Highland, Moray, and Aberdeenshire, central Scotland, between the Dee and the upper Spey rivers; ...

Lomond, Loch

(Encyclopedia)Lomond, Loch lŏkh lōˈmənd, –mən [key], largest freshwater lake in Great Britain, 23 mi (37 km) long and from 1 to 5 mi (1.6–8.1 km) wide, in Argyll and Bute, West Dunbartonshire, and Stirling...

Browse by Subject