Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

organic food

(Encyclopedia)organic food, food raised without chemicals and processed without additives. Under standards adopted by the U.S. Agriculture Dept. (USDA) in 2000 and fully effective in 2002, synthetic fertilizers and...

sandwich, food

(Encyclopedia)sandwich, a piece of meat or other food placed between two slices of bread. Although food in this form has long been used, the term sandwich originated in the 18th cent. It is named for John Montagu, ...

Bethesda, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Bethesda, uninc. city (2020 pop. 63,195), Montgomery co., W central Md., an affluent residential and commercial suburb of Washington, D.C. The area was ...

generic drug

(Encyclopedia)generic drug, a drug sold or prescribed under the nonproprietary name of its active ingredients or under a generally descriptive name rather than under a brand or trade name. The name of the active in...

designer drug

(Encyclopedia)designer drug, chemical substance synthesized in a laboratory that is intended to have effects similar to those of a drug that is a controlled substance, such as methamphetamine, marijuana, LSD, or an...

drug poisoning

(Encyclopedia)drug poisoning, toxic effects caused by an administered drug. Worldwide more than 9 million natural and synthetic chemicals have been identified; fewer than 3000 cause more than 95% of acidental and d...

drug resistance

(Encyclopedia)drug resistance, condition in which infecting bacteria can resist the destructive effects of drugs such as antibiotics and sulfa drugs. Drug resistance has become a serious public health problem, sinc...

corticosteroid drug

(Encyclopedia)corticosteroid drug kôrˌtəkōstârˈoid [key], any one of several synthetic or naturally occurring substances with the general chemical structure of steroids. They are used therapeutically to mimic...

fertility drug

(Encyclopedia)fertility drug, any of a variety of substances used to increase the possibility of conception and successful pregnancy. Different methods are used to correct or circumvent the many different functiona...

immunosuppressive drug

(Encyclopedia)immunosuppressive drug, any of a variety of substances used to prevent production of antibodies. They are commonly used to prevent rejection by a recipient's body of an organ transplanted from a donor...