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...

Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer

(Encyclopedia)Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer, 1849–95, English statesman; son of the 7th duke of Marlborough. A sincere Tory and a founder (1883) of the Primrose League, dedicated to upholding national in...

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...

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...

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...

brant

(Encyclopedia)brant or brant goose, common name for a species of wild sea goose. The American brant, Branta bernicla, breeds in the Arctic and winters along the Atlantic coast. The head, neck, and tail are black, t...

phosphorus

(Encyclopedia)phosphorus fŏsˈfərəs [key] [Gr.,=light-bearing], nonmetallic chemical element; symbol P; at. no. 15; at. wt. 30.97376; m.p. 44.1℃; b.p. about 280℃; sp. gr. 1.82 at 20℃; valence −3, +3, or ...

Browse by Subject