Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

325 results found

Ransom, John Crowe

(Encyclopedia)Ransom, John Crowe, 1888–1974, American poet and critic, b. Pulaski, Tenn., grad. Vanderbilt Univ. and studied at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He is considered one of the great stylists of 20th-centu...

weed

(Encyclopedia)weed, common term for any wild plant, particularly an undesired plant, growing in cultivated ground, where it competes with crop plants for soil nutrients and water. In their natural habitat, wildflow...

smallpox

(Encyclopedia)smallpox, acute, highly contagious disease causing a high fever and successive stages of severe skin eruptions. Occurring worldwide in epidemics, it killed up to 40% of those who contracted it and acc...

lupus

(Encyclopedia)lupus lo͞oˈpəs [key], noninfectious chronic disease in which antibodies in an individual's immune system attack the body's own substances. In lupus, known medically as lupus erythematosus, antibodi...

cryptosporidium

(Encyclopedia)cryptosporidium krĭpˌtōspərĭdˈēəm [key], genus of protozoans having at least four species; they are waterborne parasites that cause the disease cryptosporidiosis. One of the species appears to...

septicemia

(Encyclopedia)septicemia sĕptĭsēˈmēə [key], invasion of the bloodstream by virulent bacteria that multiply and discharge their toxic products. The disorder, which is serious and sometimes fatal, is commonly k...

norovirus

(Encyclopedia)norovirus or Norwalk virus, highly contagious viral disease caused by infection with an RNA virus of the genus Norovirus. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis, usually one to two days after infectio...

monkeypox

(Encyclopedia)monkeypox, rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, which is related to the viruses that cause smallpox and cowpox. The symptoms of monkeypox, which typically take 1 to 2 weeks to ap...

anaplasmosis

(Encyclopedia)anaplasmosis ănˌəplăzmōˈsĭs [key], infectious blood disease in cattle, sheep, and goats, caused by a rickettsia of the genus Anaplasma. The organism parasitizes red blood cells, causing their d...

anemone

(Encyclopedia)anemone ənĕmˈənē [key] or windflower, any of the perennial herbs, wild or cultivated, of the genus Anemone of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family). A rich legendary history has gained the ...