Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

fuel

(Encyclopedia)fuel, material that can be burned or otherwise consumed to produce heat. The common fuels used in industry, transportation, and the home are burned in air. The carbon and hydrogen in fuel rapidly comb...

stromatolite

(Encyclopedia)stromatolite, layered structures produced by the binding together of sediments by a thin layer of cyanobacteria. The layers, which are deposited very slowly, gradually produce rounded or hummocklike f...

La Brea

(Encyclopedia)La Brea lə brāˈə [key], area, S Calif., formerly in Rancho La Brea. The La Brea asphalt pits, which yielded prehistoric animal and plant remains, are in Hancock Park, Los Angeles. The first fossil...

Eight, the

(Encyclopedia)Eight, the, group of American artists in New York City, formed in 1908 to exhibit paintings. They were men of widely different tendencies, held together mainly by their common opposition to academism....

Downs, The

(Encyclopedia)Downs, The, roadstead, c.8 mi (13 km) long and 6 mi (9.7 km) wide, between North Foreland and South Foreland, off Deal, Kent, SE England, in the English Channel. It is protected, except from strong so...

Comoros, the

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Comoros, the kŏmˈərōs [key], officially Union of the Comoros (2020 est. pop. 869,601), 838 sq mi ...

Dalles, The

(Encyclopedia)Dalles, The, Oregon: see The Dalles. ...

Crab, The

(Encyclopedia)Crab, The, English name for Cancer, a constellation. ...

Curragh, the

(Encyclopedia)Curragh, the kûrˈəkh [key], undulating plain or common, 4,885 acres (1,977 hectares), Co. Kildare, E Republic of Ireland. It has been a military camp since 1646. The Curragh racecourse is Ireland's...

Alamo, the

(Encyclopedia)Alamo, the ălˈəmōˌ [key] [Span.,=cottonwood], building in San Antonio, Tex., “the cradle of Texas liberty.” Built as a chapel after 1744, it is all that remains of the mission of San Antonio ...