Columbia Encyclopedia

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Grand Coulee Dam

(Encyclopedia)Grand Coulee Dam ko͞oˈlē [key], 550 ft (168 m) high and 4,173 ft (1,272 m) long, on the Columbia ...

Flynt, Larry Claxton, Jr.

(Encyclopedia) Flynt, Larry Claxton, Jr., 1942-2021, American magazine publisher, b. Lakeville, Ky. Flynt was the son of a sharecropper, and dropped out of school at...

digitalis

(Encyclopedia)digitalis dĭjˌĭtălˈĭs [key], any of several chemically similar drugs used primarily to increase the force and rate of heart contractions, especially in damaged heart muscle. The effects of the d...

deportation

(Encyclopedia)deportation, expulsion of an alien from a country by an act of its government. The term is not applied ordinarily to sending a national into exile or to committing one convicted of crime to an oversea...

cortisol

(Encyclopedia)cortisol kôrˈtĭsôlˌ [key] or hydrocortisone, steroid hormone that in humans is the major circulating hormone of the cortex, or outer layer, of the adrenal gland. Like cortisone, cortisol is class...

alfalfa

(Encyclopedia)alfalfa lo͞osûnˈ [key], perennial leguminous plant (Medicago sativa) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), the most important pasture and hay plant in North America, also grown extensively in A...

conspiracy

(Encyclopedia)conspiracy, in law, agreement of two or more persons to commit a criminal or otherwise unlawful act. At common law, the crime of conspiracy was committed with the making of the agreement, but present-...

clown

(Encyclopedia)clown, a comic character usually distinguished by garish makeup and costume whose antics are both humorously clumsy and acrobatic. The clown employs a broad, physical style of humor that is wordless o...

chemotherapy

(Encyclopedia)chemotherapy kēˌmōthĕrˈəpē [key], treatment of disease with chemicals or drugs. One chemotherapeutic approach is the development of selectively toxic substances, i.e., substances that can destr...

feedback

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Basic feedback control system feedback, arrangement for the automatic self-regulation of an electrical, mechanical, or biological system by returning part of its output as input. A simple exam...