Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

dam

(Encyclopedia)dam, barrier, commonly across a watercourse, to hold back water, often forming a reservoir or lake; dams are also sometimes used to control or contain rockslides, mudflows, and the like in regions whe...

El Niño–Southern Oscillation

(Encyclopedia)El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) ĕl nēnˈyō [key], large-scale climatic fluctuation of the tropical Pacific Ocean and the overlying atmosphere. The El Niño [Span.,=the child] is the South Am...

liquid

(Encyclopedia)liquid, one of the three commonly recognized states in which matter occurs, i.e., that state, as distinguished from solid and gas, in which a substance has a definite volume but no definite shape. T...

water supply

(Encyclopedia)water supply, process or activity by which water is provided for some use, e.g., to a home, factory, or business. The term may also refer to the supply of water provided in this way. In the United Sta...

wood

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Wood A. Cross section of a woody stem B. Enlarged view, showing xylem, phloem, and cambium wood, botanically, the xylem tissue that forms the bulk of the stem of a woody plant. Xylem conducts ...

dynamics

(Encyclopedia)dynamics, branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of objects; it may be further divided into kinematics, the study of motion without regard to the forces producing it, and kinetics, the study o...

direct action

(Encyclopedia)direct action, theory and methods used by certain labor groups to fight employers, capitalist institutions, and the state by direct economic action, without using intermediate organizations. Political...

Djukanović, Milo

(Encyclopedia)Djukanović, Milo mēˈlō jo͞okänˈōvĭch [key], 1962–, Montenegrin political leader, president (1998–2002, 2018–) and prime minister (1991–98, 2003–6, 2008–10, 2012–16) of Montenegr...

computer terminal

(Encyclopedia)computer terminal, a device that enables a computer to receive or deliver data. Computer terminals vary greatly depending on the format of the data they handle. For example, a simple early terminal co...

confession

(Encyclopedia)confession, in law, the formal admission of criminal guilt, usually obtained in the course of examination by the police or prosecutor or at trial. For a confession to be admissible as evidence against...

Browse by Subject