Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

winterberry

(Encyclopedia)winterberry, name for two species of shrubs or small trees of the genus Ilex of the family Aquifoliaceae (holly family), native to the eastern half of North America. Both are deciduous but have winter...

Washita

(Encyclopedia)Washita wŏshˈĭtô [key], river, c.450 mi (720 km) long, rising in the Texas Panhandle near the Okla. line and flowing generally SE across Oklahoma to Lake Texoma or the Red River. The Native Americ...

Qina

(Encyclopedia)Qina kĕnˈə [key], town (1986 pop. 119,917), capital of Qina governorate, E central Egypt, on the Nile River. Sugarcane and grains are grown nearby, and pottery is made in the town. Qina was built o...

shrew

(Encyclopedia)shrew, common name for the small, insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, related to the moles. Shrews include the smallest mammals; the smallest shrews are under 2 in. (5.1 cm) long, excluding...

Leipzig

(Encyclopedia)Leipzig līpˈtsĭkh [key], city (1994 pop. 490,850), Saxony, E central Germany, at the confluence of the Pleisse, White Elster, and Parthe rivers. Originally a Slavic settlement called Lipsk, Leipz...

Dahlak Archipelago

(Encyclopedia)Dahlak Archipelago däläkˈ ärkĭpĕlˈəgō [key], island group, Eritrea, in the Red Sea off Massawa. There are two large, inhabited islands and more than 200 small, largely uninhabited islands. Th...

Fargo

(Encyclopedia)Fargo, city (2020 pop. 125,990), seat of Cass co., E N.Dak., at the head of navigation on the Red River, opposite Moorhead, Minn.; inc. 1875. A railroad...

Gruenther, Alfred Maximilian

(Encyclopedia)Gruenther, Alfred Maximilian, 1899–1983, U.S. general, b. Platte Center, Nebr. A brilliant staff officer, during World War II he was deputy chief of staff to Dwight D. Eisenhower in London (1942–4...

gaillardia

(Encyclopedia)gaillardia gālärˈdēə [key], any plant of the genus Gaillardia of the Asteaceae family (aster family), including annual, biennial, and perennial herbs with showy heads of red and/or yellow ray flo...

Arabian Desert

(Encyclopedia)Arabian Desert or Eastern Desert, c.86,000 sq mi (222,740 sq km), E Egypt, bordered by the Nile valley in the west and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez in the east. It extends along most of Egypt's ea...

Browse by Subject