Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

336 results found

Joplin

(Encyclopedia)Joplin jŏpˈlĭn [key], city (1990 pop. 40,961), Jasper and Newton counties, SW Mo., at the edge of the Ozarks; settled c.1839, inc. 1873. It is a railroad center, the shipping and processing point o...

Kearney

(Encyclopedia)Kearney, city (1990 pop. 24,396), seat of Buffalo co., S central Nebr., on the Platte River; inc. 1873. It is a commercial, industrial, and transportation center in an agricultural area. Plastic and m...

polyolefins

(Encyclopedia)polyolefins pŏlˌēōlˈəfən [key], group of plastics that are polymers of various alkenes, or olefins. The most important are polyethylene and polypropylene. ...

shield, armor

(Encyclopedia)shield, piece of defensive armor, worn on the arm or shoulder to ward off weapons during combat, used prior to the dominance of gunpowder. Originally for individual defense during hand-to-hand combat,...

Gurugram

(Encyclopedia)Gurugram, formerly Gurgaon gûrˈgoun [key], city, Haryana state, N India, 15 mi (24 km) ...

melamine

(Encyclopedia)melamine mĕlˈəmēnˌ [key], common name for 2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine. Melamine is a trimer (see polymer) of cyanamide, H2NC≡N, and is synthesized from calcium carbide. It condenses with form...

Northampton, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Northampton nôrthˌhămpˈtən, nôrˌthămpˈtən [key], city (1990 pop. 29,289), seat of Hampshire co., W Mass., on the Connecticut River; inc. as a town 1656, as a city 1883. Brushes, wire, optica...

New Bern

(Encyclopedia)New Bern, city (1990 pop. 17,363), seat of Craven co., E N.C., a port and trading center at the junction of the Neuse and Trent rivers; inc. 1723. There is lumbering and food processing, and textiles ...

castor oil

(Encyclopedia)castor oil, yellowish oil obtained from the seed of the castor bean. The oil content of the seeds varies from about 20% to 50%. After the hulls are removed the seeds are cold-pressed. Medicinal castor...

Youngstown

(Encyclopedia)Youngstown, city (1990 pop. 95,732), seat of Mahoning co., NE Ohio, near the Pa. line; founded 1797, inc. 1849. It was formerly a major U.S. iron and steel center. In the 1970s many of the steel mills...