Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

stucco

(Encyclopedia)stucco stŭkˈō [key], in architecture, a term loosely applied to various kinds of plasterwork, both exterior and interior. It now commonly refers to a plaster or cement used for the external coating...

racquets

(Encyclopedia)racquets, game played by two or four persons on a court 60 by 30 ft (18.3 m by 9.1 m); it is surrounded by three walls 30 ft (9.1 m) high and a backwall 15 ft (4.6 m) high. The ball, 1 in. (2.54 cm) i...

Eliakim

(Encyclopedia)Eliakim ēlīˈəkĭm [key]. 1 King of Judah: see Jehoiakim. 2 Important officer of state under King Hezekiah. 3 Priest at the dedication of the new wall at Jerusalem. 4, 5 Names appearing in the Gosp...

Kirkintilloch

(Encyclopedia)Kirkintilloch kûrkĭntĭlˈŏkh [key], town (1991 pop. 33,024), East Dunbartonshire, W Scotland, on the Forth and Clyde Canal. An engineering center, the town has factories that produce mining machin...

Royal Gorge

(Encyclopedia)Royal Gorge, 10 mi (16 km) long, narrow canyon cut by the Arkansas River, S central Colo., often called the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas. The gorge was discovered in 1806 by an expedition led by U.S. ...

Fifth Avenue

(Encyclopedia)Fifth Avenue, famous north-south street of the borough of Manhattan, New York City. It begins at Washington Square and ends at the Harlem River. Between 34th and 59th streets, Fifth Ave. is lined with...

Marsh, Reginald

(Encyclopedia)Marsh, Reginald, 1898–1954, American painter and illustrator, b. Paris. Both his parents were artists. After their return to the United States, he studied at Yale (B.A., 1920). He worked as an illus...

viaduct

(Encyclopedia)viaduct vīˈədŭktˌ [key] [Lat.,=road conveyor], type of bridge for carrying a highway or railroad over a valley, over low ground, or over a road. It is commonly constructed in the form of several ...

Adams, Maude

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Maude, 1872–1953, American actress, b. Salt Lake City, Utah. Her father's name was Kiskadden, but she used her mother's maiden name. She began acting at an early age and became leading lady t...

Tobey, Mark

(Encyclopedia)Tobey, Mark, 1890–1976, American painter, b. Centerville, Wis. An avid traveler, Tobey visited China and Japan in 1934. He then developed his celebrated “white writing,” in which he attempted to...