Columbia Encyclopedia

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slang

(Encyclopedia)slang, vernacular vocabulary not generally acceptable in formal usage. It is notable for its liveliness, humor, emphasis, brevity, novelty, and exaggeration. Most slang is faddish and ephemeral, but s...

rattlesnake

(Encyclopedia)rattlesnake, poisonous New World snake of the pit viper family, distinguished by a rattle at the end of the tail. The head is triangular, being widened at the base. The rattle is a series of dried, ho...

cremation

(Encyclopedia)cremation, disposal of a corpse by fire. It is an ancient and widespread practice, second only to burial. It has been found among the tribes of the Pacific Northwest, among Northern Athapascan bands i...

cobalt, chemical element

(Encyclopedia)cobalt, metallic chemical element; symbol Co; at. no. 27; at. wt. 58.9332; m.p. 1,495℃; b.p. about 2,870℃; sp. gr. 8.9 at 20℃; valence +2 or +3. Cobalt is a silver-white, lustrous, hard, brittle...

expansion

(Encyclopedia)expansion, in physics, increase in volume resulting from an increase in temperature. Contraction is the reverse process. When heat is applied to a body, the rate of vibration and the distances between...

murder

(Encyclopedia)murder, criminal homicide, usually distinguished from manslaughter by the element of malice aforethought. The most direct case of malicious intent occurs when the killer is known to have adopted the d...

Oates, Joyce Carol

(Encyclopedia)Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938–, American author, b. Lockport, N.Y., B.A. Syracuse Univ., 1960, M.A. Univ. of Wisconsin, 1961. She taught English at the Univ. of Detroit and the Univ. of Windsor, Ontario,...

Bessemer process

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bessemer converter Bessemer process bĕsˈəmər [key] [for Sir Henry Bessemer], industrial process for the manufacture of steel from molten pig iron. The principle involved is that of oxidati...

rayon

(Encyclopedia)rayon, synthetic fibers made from cellulose or textiles woven from such fibers; more rayon is manufactured than any other synthetic fiber. The name was adopted (1924), in preference to “artificial s...

radiometer

(Encyclopedia)radiometer rāˌdēŏmˈətər [key], instrument for detection or measurement of electromagnetic radiation; the term is applied in particular to devices used to measure infrared radiation. One of the ...