Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

486 results found

Boulogne-Billancourt

(Encyclopedia)Boulogne-Billancourt bo͞olôˈnyə-bēyäNko͞orˈ [key], city, Hauts-de-Seine dept., N central France, a suburb SW ...

Taiyuan

(Encyclopedia)Taiyuan tī-yüän [key], city (1994 est. pop. 1,642,300), capital of Shanxi prov., N China, on the Fen River, in one of the world's richest coal and iron areas. It is a mining and smelting center wit...

scurvy

(Encyclopedia)scurvy, deficiency disorder resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the diet. Scurvy does not occur in most animals because they can synthesize their own vitamin C, but humans, other pri...

Auckland

(Encyclopedia)Auckland ôkˈlənd [key], city (2021 pop. 1,630,092), N North Island, New Zealand. It is situated on an isthmus and is the largest urban region and chief port of the coun...

foot-and-mouth disease

(Encyclopedia)foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease, highly contagious disease almost exclusive to cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and other cloven-hoofed animals. It is caused by a virus, specifically an a...

Ross Sea

(Encyclopedia)Ross Sea, arm of the Pacific Ocean, Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered in 1841 by Sir James Clark Ross, a British explorer. Ross Island with Mt. Erebus, an active...

Massillon

(Encyclopedia)Massillon măsˈĭlŏn [key], city (1990 pop. 31,007), Stark co., NE Ohio, on the Tuscarawas River; inc. 1853. A wheat-shipping center on the Ohio & Erie Canal after 1828, it became an industrial ...

Oxnard

(Encyclopedia)Oxnard ŏkˈsnärd [key], city (1990 pop. 142,216), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; inc. 1903. Its economy, formerly based on agriculture, mining, and nearby military bases, has expanded ...

Boksburg

(Encyclopedia)Boksburg bŏksˈbûrgˌ [key], city, now part of Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality, Gauteng prov., NE South Africa. It is an important coal-mining center. Some gold mining is still carried on. Manu...

food poisoning

(Encyclopedia)food poisoning, acute illness following the eating of foods contaminated by bacteria, bacterial toxins, natural poisons, or harmful chemical substances. It was once customary to classify all such illn...

Browse by Subject