Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

sharecropping

(Encyclopedia)sharecropping, an agricultural system in which a landowner allows a tenant to use their land in return for a share of the crop produced. In the United S...

leukemia

(Encyclopedia)leukemia lo͞okēˈmēə [key], cancerous disorder of the blood-forming tissues (bone marrow, lymphatics, liver, spleen) characterized by excessive production of immature or mature leukocytes (white b...

chinaware

(Encyclopedia)chinaware, hard, white, translucent pottery with soft glaze, known as porcelain. It originated in China but is now produced in various countries. Its composition is of kaolin and petuntse. ...

Imandra

(Encyclopedia)Imandra ēˈməndrə [key], lake, 340 sq mi (881 sq km), NW European Russia, on the Kola Peninsula S of Murmansk. Deeply indented, it contains some 140 islands and receives about 20 large rivers. It e...

Hampshire swine

(Encyclopedia)Hampshire swine, breed of swine that originated in S England and was introduced to the United States in the early 1800s. Major improvement of the breed took place in the state of Kentucky. Hampshire s...

Onega

(Encyclopedia)Onega ōnēˈgə, ōnāˈ–, Rus. ŭnyāˈgŭ [key], river, c.260 mi (420 km) long, rising in Lake Lacha, NW European Russia, and flowing N into the Onega Gulf of the White Sea, SW of Arkhangelsk. It...

Poland China swine

(Encyclopedia)Poland China swine, oldest breed of swine to have originated in the United States and one of the most popular. A number of strains have contributed to the development of this breed, notably the Irish ...

Wayland Smith

(Encyclopedia)Wayland Smith, in English folklore, a skillful blacksmith and great armor maker, whose forge was near the White Horse (Oxfordshire). He appears in the Old English Beowulf and Deor and in Sir Walter Sc...

smaltite

(Encyclopedia)smaltite smôlˈtīt [key], opaque tin-white to steel-gray mineral of the pyrite group, a compound of cobalt and arsenic. It occurs in massive form, occasionally in crystals (cubes) of the isometric s...

crossbill

(Encyclopedia)crossbill, bird of the genus Loxia, in the finch family. Its bill, crossed at the tips, is specialized for pulling apart pine cones and picking out the seeds. Crossbills are found in the evergreen for...