Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

454 results found

tang, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)tang, common name for certain members of the Acanthuridae, a family of mostly small, mainly reef-dwelling tropical fishes with compressed bodies and small mouths and teeth. Other members of the family...

White, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)White, Patrick, 1912–90, Australian novelist, b. London. Raised in England and educated at Cambridge, he returned to Australia after World War II, earning his living by farming and writing. His nove...

Cariboo Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Cariboo Mountains kărˈĭbo͞o [key], range, c.200 mi (320 km) long, E British Columbia, Canada, rising to 11,750 ft (3,582 m) at Mt. Sir Wilfrid Laurier. It runs roughly parallel with the main Rocky...

Carthage, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Carthage. <1> City (2020 pop. 15,522), seat of Jasper co., SW Mo., on the Spring River; inc. 1873. Its gray marble quarries are the largest of ...

Boeing, William Edward

(Encyclopedia)Boeing, William Edward, 1881–1956, American aviation pioneer and executive, b. Detroit. After attending Yale's Sheffield Scientific School (1899–1902), he moved (1903) to Gray's Harbor, Wash., whe...

mamba

(Encyclopedia)mamba, name for African snakes of the genus Dendroaspis, in the cobra family. Widely distributed throughout Africa except in the deserts, mambas have extremely toxic venom. When attacking they raise t...

Siberian husky

(Encyclopedia)Siberian husky, breed of medium-sized, muscular working dog whose origins date back thousands of years in Siberia. It stands from 20 to 231⁄2 in. (50.8–59.7 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs fro...

corundum

(Encyclopedia)corundum kərŭnˈdəm [key], mineral, aluminum oxide, Al2O3. The clear varieties are used as gems and the opaque as abrasive materials. Corundum occurs in crystals of the hexagonal system and in mass...

gerbil

(Encyclopedia)gerbil jûrˈbĭl [key], small desert rodent found throughout the hot arid regions of Africa and Asia. Also known as sand rats, gerbils have large eyes and powerful, elongated hind limbs upon which th...

goose

(Encyclopedia)goose, common name for large wild and domesticated swimming birds related to the duck and the swan. Strictly speaking, the term goose is applied to the female and gander to the male. In North America ...