Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

harp seal

(Encyclopedia)harp seal, crested earless, or true, seal, Phoca groenlandica, found in the N Atlantic around Greenland and the White Sea. In the spring, harp seals migrate southward to assemble in large groups to br...

stork

(Encyclopedia)stork, common name for members of a family of long-legged wading birds. The storks are related to the herons and ibises and are found in most of the warmer parts of the world. Storks have long, broad,...

vestments

(Encyclopedia)vestments, garments worn by ecclesiastics in ceremonial functions. The cassock, a close-fitting gown buttoning down the front and reaching to the feet, is not a vestment so much as the daily uniform o...

columnist

(Encyclopedia)columnist, the writer of an essay appearing regularly in a newspaper or periodical, usually under a constant heading. Although originally humorous, the column in many cases has supplanted the editoria...

Tanglewood Music Festival

(Encyclopedia)Tanglewood Music Festival, formerly the Berkshire Festival (until 1984), summer music festival held since 1937 at “Tanglewood,” a former estate in the adjoining towns of Stockbridge and Lenox, Mas...

Babbitt metal

(Encyclopedia)Babbitt metal, an antifriction metal first produced by Isaac Babbitt in 1839. In present-day usage the term is applied to a whole class of silver-white bearing metals, or “white metals.” These all...

Jelliffe, Smith Ely

(Encyclopedia)Jelliffe, Smith Ely jĕˈlĭf [key], 1866–1945, American neurologist and psychiatrist, b. New York City, M.D. Columbia, 1889. He was consultant at Manhattan State Hospital and at Kings Park State Ho...

miniature bull terrier

(Encyclopedia)miniature bull terrier, breed of small, muscular dog developed in England in the early 19th cent. It stands up to 14 in. (35.6 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs about 17 lb (7.7 kg). Its short, flat...

albino

(Encyclopedia)albino ălbīˈnō [key] [Port.,=white], animal or plant lacking normal pigmentation. The absence of pigment is observed in the body covering (skin, hair, and feathers) and in the iris of the eye. The...

Browse by Subject