Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

402 results found

bittern

(Encyclopedia)bittern, common name for migratory marsh birds of the family Ardeidae (heron family). The American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus), often called “stake driver” because of a territorial male's boom...

silage

(Encyclopedia)silage ĕnˈsəlĭj [key], succulent, moist feed made by storing a green crop in a silo. The crop most used for silage is corn; others are sorghum, sunflowers, legumes, and grass. In a sealed silo, ty...

shoebill stork

(Encyclopedia)shoebill stork, common name for a large (up to 54 in./122 cm) tall, storklike bird, Balaeniceps rex. Also known as the whalehead, it is noted for its large head and unusually long and wide, many-color...

Saluki

(Encyclopedia)Saluki səlo͞oˈkē [key], breed of tall, slender hound whose origins may be traced back to the Sumerian empire of 6000 b.c. It stands between 23 and 28 in. (58.4–71.1 cm) high at the shoulder, alt...

candelabrum

(Encyclopedia)candelabrum kănˌdəläˈbrəm [key], primarily a support for candles, designed in the form of a turned baluster or a tapered column, also a branched candlestick or a lampstand. Though most used and ...

Dalin, Olof von

(Encyclopedia)Dalin, Olof von o͞oˈlôv fən dälēnˈ [key], 1708–63, Swedish historian, poet, and journalist, the foremost figure of the Swedish Enlightenment. In his successful career in the civil service, Da...

Flanagan, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Flanagan, Richard, 1961–, Australian novelist, b. Longford, Tasmania, studied Univ. of Tasmania (grad. 1982), Oxford (Rhodes scholar). Flanagan, whose novels explore the past and present of his nati...

Lucian

(Encyclopedia)Lucian lo͞oˈshən [key], b. c.120, d. after 180, Greek writer, also called Lucianus, b. Samosata, Syria. In late life he held a government position in Egypt. Lucian wrote an easy, masterly Attic pro...

Kleist, Heinrich von

(Encyclopedia)Kleist, Heinrich von hīnˈrĭkh fən klīst [key], 1777–1811, German dramatic poet. He is one of the most evocative and disturbing of the German Romantic writers. Kleist served (1792–99) in the P...

Beresford, Bruce

(Encyclopedia)Beresford, Bruce, 1940–, Australian film director, b. Sydney, grad. Sydney Univ. (1962). Beresford moved to England, worked for the British Film Institute (1966–71), and made several modest films....