Columbia Encyclopedia

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drought

(Encyclopedia)drought, abnormally long period of insufficient rainfall. Drought cannot be defined in terms of inches of rainfall or number of days without rain, since it is determined by such variable factors as th...

Princeton

(Encyclopedia)Princeton, borough (1990 pop. 12,016) and surrounding township (1990 pop. 13,198), Mercer co., W central N.J.; settled late 1600s, borough inc. 1813, township est. 1838. A leading education center, it...

Douglas, George

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, George, pseud. of George Douglas Brown, 1869–1902, English novelist, b. Scotland. His reputation rests on his single novel, The House with the Green Shutters (1901), a somber story of Scott...

mimic thrush

(Encyclopedia)mimic thrush, common name for members of the Mimidae, a family of exclusively American birds, allied to the wrens and thrushes, that includes the mockingbird, the catbird, and the thrashers. Mimic thr...

Venturi, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Venturi, Robert, 1925–2018, American architect and architectural theorist, b. Philadelphia, grad. Princeton (B.A., 1947; M.F.A., 1950). An important and highly influential theorist, Venturi inveighe...

leaf mold

(Encyclopedia)leaf mold, crumbly brown humus typical of forest floors. It is composed of decayed leaves and other plant material mixed with soil. ...

Miliband, Ed

(Encyclopedia)Miliband, Ed (Edward Samuel Miliband), 1969–, British political leader, b. London, grad. Oxford, London School of Economics. A member of the Labour party and a close associate of Gordon Brown, the c...

codling moth

(Encyclopedia)codling moth kŏdˈlĭng [key], small moth, Carpocapsa pomonella, whose larva is the destructive apple worm. Of European origin, it is now found wherever apples are grown. The adult moth is gray with ...

squash bug

(Encyclopedia)squash bug, name for a true bug, Anasa tristis, found throughout the United States and S Canada. It damages squash, pumpkin, and related plants by sucking the juices from leaves and stems. The adult i...

Providence

(Encyclopedia)Providence, city (1990 pop. 160,728), state capital and seat of Providence co., NE R.I., a port at the head of Providence Bay; founded by Roger Williams 1636, inc. as a city 1832. The largest city in ...