Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

carbuncle

(Encyclopedia)carbuncle, acute inflammatory nodule of the skin caused by bacterial invasion into the hair follicles or sebaceous gland ducts. It is actually a boil, but one that has more than one focus of infection...

United Irishmen

(Encyclopedia)United Irishmen or United Irish Society, Irish political organization. It was founded at Belfast in 1791 by Theobald Wolfe Tone. Disgruntled by the use of English patronage to control Irish politics, ...

Walker, William

(Encyclopedia)Walker, William, 1824–60, American filibuster in Nicaragua, b. Nashville, Tenn. Walker, a qualified doctor, a lawyer, and a journalist by the time he was 24, sought a more adventurous career. After ...

fossa

(Encyclopedia)fossa, carnivorous mammal, Cryptoprocta ferox, of Madagascar. The island's largest carnivore, the fossa resembles a puma in appearance and has semiretractable claws, but it is most closely related to ...

African swine fever

(Encyclopedia)African swine fever (ASF), highly contagious, deadly viral disease of swine. Its acute form, which is typically fatal, is characterized by high fever, loss of appetite, lethargy, and redness in the sk...

amphibious warfare

(Encyclopedia)amphibious warfare ămfĭbˈēəs [key], employment of a combination of land and sea forces to take or defend a military objective. The general strategy is very ancient and was extensively employed by...

Mill Valley

(Encyclopedia)Mill Valley, city (1990 pop. 13,038), Marin co., W Calif., a suburb on Richardson Bay, an inlet of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1900. It is a residential community set in heavily timbered hills and valleys...

Moorea

(Encyclopedia)Moorea môrāˈä [key], volcanic island (2002 pop. 14,226), c.50 sq mi (130 sq km), South Pacific, second largest of the Windward group of the Society Islands, French Polynesia. The island is mountai...

Golden Gate

(Encyclopedia)Golden Gate, strait, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 1 to 2 mi (1.6–3.2 km) wide, linking San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered in 1579 by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Known ...

Fort Garry

(Encyclopedia)Fort Garry, two trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company, built on the present-day site of Winnipeg, Man., Canada, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. The first, Upper Fort Garry, wa...