Columbia Encyclopedia

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mass transit

(Encyclopedia)mass transit, public transportation systems designed to move large numbers of passengers. The history of mass transportation is intimately connected to industrialization, urbanization, and the sepa...

front

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Fronts: A. Advance of a cold front B. Advance of a warm front front, in meteorology, zone of transition between adjacent air masses. If a cold air mass is advancing to replace a warmer one, th...

air

(Encyclopedia)air: see atmosphere; liquid air; ventilation. ...

Chinook, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Chinook shĭno͝okˈ, chĭ– [key], Native American tribe of the Penutian linguistic stock. Altogether twelve main tribes spoke Chinook languages; all were in the Columbia River valley. The Chinook t...

dry cell

(Encyclopedia)dry cell: see battery, electric. ...

dry farming

(Encyclopedia)dry farming, farming system adopted in areas having an annual rainfall of approximately 15 to 20 in. (38.1–50.8 cm)—with much of the rainfall in the spring and early summer—where irrigation is i...

dry ice

(Encyclopedia)dry ice: see carbon dioxide.

dry rot

(Encyclopedia)dry rot, fungus disease that attacks both softwood and hardwood timber. Destruction of the cellulose causes discoloration and eventual crumbling of the wood. This frequently results in the collapse of...

Dry Tortugas

(Encyclopedia)Dry Tortugas tôrto͞oˈgəz [key], island group in the Gulf of Mexico, off S Fla., 60 mi (97 km) W of Key West. Named by the Spanish explorer Ponce de León in 1513, the islands later became a pirate...

critical mass

(Encyclopedia)critical mass: see chain reaction. ...