Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

porpoise

(Encyclopedia)porpoise, small whale of the family Phocaenidae, allied to the dolphin. Porpoises, like other whales, are mammals; they are warm-blooded, breathe air, and give birth to live young, which they suckle w...

Vishnu

(Encyclopedia)Vishnu vĭshˈno͞o [key], one of the greatest gods of Hinduism, also called Narayana. First mentioned in the Veda as a minor deity, his theistic cults, known as Vaishnavism, or Vishnuism, grew steadi...

crustacean

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Internal anatomy of a female crayfish, representative of the class Crustacea crustacean krŭstāˈshən [key], primarily aquatic arthropod of the subphylum Crustacea. Most of the 44,000 crusta...

Jiangsu

(Encyclopedia)Jiangsu kyängˈso͞oˈ, jyängˈ– [key], province (2010 pop. 78,659,903), c.41,000 sq mi (106,190 sq km), E China, on the Yellow Sea. Nanjing is the capital. Jiangsu was originally part of the W...

elephant seal

(Encyclopedia)elephant seal or sea elephant, a true seal of the genus Mirounga. It is the largest of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, exceeding the walrus in size. There is a northern species, Mirounga angusti...

dogfish

(Encyclopedia)dogfish, name for a number of small sharks of several different families. Best known are the spiny dogfishes (family Squalidae) and the smooth dogfishes (family Triakidae). Spiny dogfishes have two sp...

dragonfly

(Encyclopedia)dragonfly, any insect of the order Odonata, which also includes the damselfly. Members of this order are generally large predatory insects and characteristically have chewing mouthparts and four membr...

Darwin's finches

(Encyclopedia)Darwin's finches or Galapagos finches gəläˈpəgōsˌ [key], species of small perching birds, constituting the subfamily Geospizinae of the tanager family. Not related to the true finches, this grou...

fertilizer

(Encyclopedia)fertilizer, organic or inorganic material containing one or more of the nutrients—mainly nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and other essential elements required for plant growth. Added to the soi...

Hampton, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Hampton. <1> City (2020 pop. 8,368), Henry co., central Ga.; est. 1873. Originally known as Bear Creek, the town was moved and renamed when ...

Browse by Subject