Columbia Encyclopedia

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Memphis, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Memphis mĕmˈfĭs [key], city (1990 pop. 610,337), seat of Shelby co., SW Tenn., on the Fourth, or Lower, Chickasaw Bluff above the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Wolf River; inc. 1826. A river por...

anabolic steroid

(Encyclopedia)anabolic steroid ănˌdrōjĕnˈĭk [key], any of a group of synthetic derivatives of testosterone that promote muscle and bone growth. Used to treat uncontrolled weight loss in wasting diseases, anab...

windsurfing

(Encyclopedia)windsurfing, also called boardsailing or sailboarding, water sport that employs a board-and-sail device and combines elements of sailing and surfing. The sailboard was first developed in 1964 by boate...

Vestris, Lucia Elizabeth (Bartolozzi)

(Encyclopedia)Vestris, Lucia Elizabeth (Bartolozzi) bärtōlôtˈsē vĕsˈtrĭs [key], 1797–1856, English actress and manager, the first woman to be a lessee of a theater. The daughter of a music and fencing tea...

Halloween

(Encyclopedia)Halloween säˈwĭn [key], the beginning of winter and the Celtic new year. Spirits, or fairies, were said to roam the earth on this evening, playing tricks on human beings to mark the season of dimin...

headdress

(Encyclopedia)headdress, head covering or decoration, protective or ceremonial, which has been an important part of costume since ancient times. Its style is governed in general by climate, available materials, rel...

Gehrig, Lou

(Encyclopedia)Gehrig, Lou (Louis Gehrig) gârˈĭg [key], 1903–41, American baseball player, b. New York City. He studied and played baseball at Columbia, where he was spotted by a scout for the New York Yankees....

horseshoe pitching

(Encyclopedia)horseshoe pitching, game played by two or more persons using horseshoes, the object being to throw the shoes so as to encircle a vertical iron peg that is 14 in. (35.6 cm) high. Regulation courts are ...

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem

(Encyclopedia)Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem kərēmˈ ăbˈdo͝ol jəbärˈ [key], 1947–, American basketball player, b. New York City as Ferdinand Lewis (Lew) Alcindor. At 7 ft 2 in. (218 cm), he led the Univ. of Califor...

Bennett, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Bennett, Alan, 1934–, British playwright and actor, b. Leeds, England, grad. Exeter College, Oxford (1957). Bennett became a fixture of the British cultural scene as part of the satirical revue Beyo...