Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Down

(Encyclopedia)Down, district, 246 sq mi (637 sq km), SE Northern Ireland. The principal town is Downpatrick. The shoreline extends along the Irish Sea and is deeply i...

Down syndrome

(Encyclopedia)Down syndrome, congenital disorder characterized by mild to severe mental retardation, slow physical development, and characteristic physical features. Down syndrome affects about 1 in every 730 live ...

skeleton, in winter sports

(Encyclopedia)skeleton, in winter sports, a type of small, very low, steel-frame sled on which one person, lying face down, slides headfirst down snowy hillsides or down steeply banked, curving, iced chutes similar...

Frasch process

(Encyclopedia)Frasch process fräsh [key] [for Herman Frasch, the German-American chemist who devised it], process for the extraction of sulfur from subsurface deposits. Three pipes, one inside another, are sunk to...

Torah

(Encyclopedia)Torah tôrˈə [key] [Heb.,=teachings or learning], Hebrew name for the five books of Moses—the Law of Moses or the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. The Torah is believed by Orthodox J...

Downpatrick

(Encyclopedia)Downpatrick dounˌpătˈrĭk [key], town, Down dist., E Northern Ireland, at the southwest extremity of ...

Drury Lane

(Encyclopedia)Drury Lane, street and district of London, at first a place of fine residences, among which was that of the Drury family. It was the site of the original Drury Lane Theatre, which was built by Thomas ...

luge

(Encyclopedia)luge lo͞ozh [key], a type of small sled on which one or two persons, lying face up, slide feet first down snowy hillsides or down steeply banked, curving, iced chutes similar to those used in bobsled...

Schefferville

(Encyclopedia)Schefferville, town (1991 pop. 303), E central Que., Canada, on the Labrador border. With the closure of the Iron Ore Co. in 1983, the town shut down almost completely. ...

Allingham, William

(Encyclopedia)Allingham, William, 1824–89, English poet, b. Donegal, Ireland. He is best known for his short lyrics, most notably “The Fairies,” beginning “Up the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen.” ...

Browse by Subject