Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

elastomer

(Encyclopedia)elastomer ĭlăsˈtəmər [key], substance having to some extent the elastic properties of natural rubber. The term is sometimes used technically to distinguish synthetic rubbers and rubberlike plasti...

Port Neches

(Encyclopedia)Port Neches nĕchˈĭz [key], city (1990 pop. 12,974), Jefferson co., SE Tex., on the Neches River; inc. 1927. It is an oil-shipping port on the deepwater Sabine-Neches Canal. Synthetic rubber, chemic...

Venter, Craig

(Encyclopedia)Venter, Craig (John Craig Venter), 1946–, American biotechnologist and pioneering genome mapper, b. Salt Lake City, grad. Univ. of California, San Diego (B.A. 1972, Ph.D. 1975). Joining the National...

carding

(Encyclopedia)carding, process by which fibers are opened, cleaned, and straightened in preparation for spinning. The fingers were first used, then a tool of wood or bone shaped like a hand, then two flat pieces of...

Gastonia

(Encyclopedia)Gastonia găstōˈnēə [key], city (2020 pop. 80,411), seat of Gaston co., SW N.C.; inc. 1877. ...

modacrylic

(Encyclopedia)modacrylic, synthetic copolymer fiber. Modacrylics are soft, strong, resilient, and dimensionally stable. They can be easily dyed, show good press and shape retention, and are quick to dry. They have ...

Kemerovo

(Encyclopedia)Kemerovo kĕmˈərōˌvō [key], city (1989 pop. 520,000), capital of Kemerovo region, central Siberian Russia, on the Tom River and on a branch of the Trans-Siberian RR. It is a coal-mining center of...

Épinal

(Encyclopedia)Épinal āpēnälˈ [key], town, capital of Vosges dept., E France, in Lorraine, on the Mosel...

Killingly

(Encyclopedia)Killingly kĭlˈĭng-lē [key], town (1990 pop. 15,889), Windham co., NE Conn., on the Quinebaug River and the R.I. border, in a farm area; settled 1693, inc. 1708. It is an active dairy and livestock...

Browse by Subject