Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

zoning

(Encyclopedia)zoning, legislative regulations by which a municipal government seeks to control the use of buildings and land within the municipality. It has become, in the United States, a widespread method of cont...

accordion

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Accordion accordion, musical instrument consisting of a rectangular bellows expanded and contracted between the hands. Buttons or keys operated by the player open valves, allowing air to enter...

gas mask

(Encyclopedia)gas mask, face covering or device used to protect the wearer from injurious gases and other noxious materials by filtering and purifying inhaled air. In addition to military use (see chemical warfare)...

sandblast

(Encyclopedia)sandblast, stream of sand or other abrasive particles driven by a jet of compressed air or water or by centrifugal force against a surface to clean or abrade it. When centrifugal force is used, the ab...

Palmdale

(Encyclopedia)Palmdale, city (1990 pop. 68,842), Los Angeles co., S Calif., in the irrigated Antelope Valley; a growing residential suburb of Los Angeles near Little Rock Creek where it forms Lake Palmdale Reservoi...

sinus

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Sinuses of the face sinus, cavity or hollow space in the body, usually filled with air or blood. In humans the paranasal sinuses, mucus-lined cavities in the bones of the face, are connected b...

cotton gin

(Encyclopedia)cotton gin, machine for separating cotton fibers from the seeds. The charkha, used in India from antiquity, consists of two revolving wooden rollers through which the fibers are drawn, leaving the see...

Trippe, Juan Terry

(Encyclopedia)Trippe, Juan Terry trĭp [key], 1899–1981, pioneering American aviation executive, b. Sea Bright, N.J. A U.S. Navy pilot (1917–18), he graduated (1921) from Yale, and worked briefly on Wall Street...

mirage

(Encyclopedia)mirage mĭräzhˈ [key], atmospheric optical illusion in which an observer sees in the distance a nonexistent body of water or an image, sometimes distorted, of some object or of a complete scene. Exa...

public health

(Encyclopedia)public health, field of medicine and hygiene dealing with the prevention of disease and the promotion of health by government agencies. In the United States, public health authorities are engaged in m...