Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

sex therapy

(Encyclopedia)sex therapy, treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunction, including impotence, orgasmic dysfunction, vaginismus (spasm of the muscles of the vagina), premature ejaculation, and lack of sexual respon...

radiology

(Encyclopedia)radiology, branch of medicine specializing in the use of X rays, gamma rays, radioactive isotopes, and other forms of radiation in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. X ray machines and fluoroscop...

ehrlichiosis

(Encyclopedia)ehrlichiosis ârlĭkēōˈsĭs [key], any of several diseases caused by rickettsia of the genera Ehrlichia and Anaplasma. Ehrlichiosis is transmitted by ticks. Both human forms tend to develop about n...

Supreme Court, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Supreme Court, United States, highest court of the United States, established by Article 3 of the Constitution of the United States. With the emergence of a working conservative majority,...

iguana

(Encyclopedia)iguana ĭgwäˈnə [key], name for several large lizards of the family Iguanidae, found in tropical America and the Galapagos. The common iguana (Iguana iguana) is a tree-living, strictly vegetarian s...

Steele, Sir Richard

(Encyclopedia)Steele, Sir Richard, 1672–1729, English essayist and playwright, b. Dublin. After studying at Charterhouse and Oxford, he entered the army in 1694 and rose to the rank of captain by 1700. His first ...

Mafia

(Encyclopedia)Mafia mäˈfēä [key], name given to a number of organized groups of Sicilian brigands in the 19th and 20th cent. Unlike the Camorra in Naples, the Mafia had no hierarchic organization; each group op...

delirium tremens

(Encyclopedia)delirium tremens trēˈmənz, trĕmˈənz [key], hallucinatory episodes that may occur during withdrawal from chronic alcoholism, popularly known as the DTs. An episode of delirium tremens is usually ...

commensalism

(Encyclopedia)commensalism kəmĕnˈsəlĭzˌəm [key], relationship between members of two different species of organisms in which one individual is usually only slightly benefited, while the other member is not a...

clubroot

(Encyclopedia)clubroot, disease of cabbages, turnips, radishes, and other plants belonging to the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family). It is induced by a plasmodial slime mold that attacks the roots...