Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Wright, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Harry (Wiliam Henry Wright), 1835–95, English-American baseball player and manager, b. Sheffield, England. His father, a professional cricket player, moved the family to New York to join the...

brazilwood

(Encyclopedia)brazilwood, common name for several trees of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) whose wood yields a red dye. The dye has largely been replaced by synthetic dyes for fabrics, but it is still used in...

cardinal, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)cardinal or redbird, common name for a North American songbird of the family Fringillidae (New World finch family). In the eastern cardinal, Richmondena cardinalis, the male is bright scarlet with bla...

color

(Encyclopedia)color, effect produced on the eye and its associated nerves by light waves of different wavelength or frequency. Light transmitted from an object to the eye stimulates the different color cones of the...

color blindness

(Encyclopedia)color blindness, visual defect resulting in the inability to distinguish colors. About 8% of men and 0.5% of women experience some difficulty in color perception. Color blindness is usually an inherit...

spleen

(Encyclopedia)spleen, soft, purplish-red organ that lies under the diaphragm on the left side of the abdominal cavity. The spleen acts as a filter against foreign organisms that infect the bloodstream, and also fil...

Riel, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Riel, Louis lwē rēĕlˈ [key], 1844–85, Canadian insurgent, leader of two rebellions, b. Manitoba, of French and Métis parentage. In 1869–70 he led the rebels of the Red River settlements, main...

Devon cattle

(Encyclopedia)Devon cattle dĕvˈən [key], breed of cattle originated in England and brought to America by colonists as early as 1623. They range in color from deep red to pale chestnut, the most popular being “...

juniper

(Encyclopedia)juniper, any tree or shrub of the genus Juniperus, aromatic evergreens of the family Cupressaceae (cypress family), widely distributed over the north temperate zone. Many are valuable as a source of l...

Winnipeg, city, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Winnipeg wĭnˈĭpĕg [key], city (1991 pop. 616,790), provincial capital, SE Man., Canada, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. It is the province's largest city and one of the world'...