Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

mosquito

(Encyclopedia)mosquito məskēˈtō [key], small, long-legged insect of the order Diptera, the true flies. The females of most species have piercing and sucking mouth parts and apparently they must feed at least on...

fats and oils

(Encyclopedia)fats and oils, group of organic substances that form an important part of the diet and also are useful in many industries. The fats are usually solid, the oils generally liquid at ordinary room temper...

cancer, in medicine

(Encyclopedia)cancer, in medicine, common term for neoplasms, or tumors, that are malignant. Like benign tumors, malignant tumors do not respond to body mechanisms that limit cell growth. Unlike benign tumors, mali...

brain

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Brain brain, the supervisory center of the nervous system in all vertebrates. It also serves as the site of emotions, memory, self-awareness, and thought. Brain research, now often referred ...

mite

(Encyclopedia)mite, small, often microscopic arachnid that belongs to several orders in the subclass Acari (or Acarina), to which the tick also belongs; mites and ticks are related to the spiders. The unsegmented m...

macaque

(Encyclopedia)macaque məkäkˈ [key], name for Old World monkeys of the genus Macaca, related to mangabeys, mandrills, and baboons. All but one of the 19 species are found in Asia from Afghanistan to Japan, the Ph...

mammary gland

(Encyclopedia)mammary gland, organ of the female mammal that produces and secretes milk for the nourishment of the young. A mammal may have from 1 to 11 pairs of mammary glands, depending on the species. Generally,...

Grey, Lady Jane

(Encyclopedia)Grey, Lady Jane, 1537–54, queen of England for nine days. She was the daughter of Henry Grey, marquess of Dorset (later duke of Suffolk), and Frances Brandon, daughter of Henry VIII's sister Mary. S...

intestine

(Encyclopedia)intestine, muscular hoselike portion of the gastrointestinal tract extending from the lower end of the stomach (pylorus) to the anal opening. In humans this fairly narrow (about 1 in./2.5 cm) tubelike...

James, P. D.

(Encyclopedia)James, P. D. (Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park), 1920–2014, English mystery novelist, b. Oxford. From 1964 to 1979 she worked in the forensic science and criminal law divi...