Columbia Encyclopedia

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pigeon

(Encyclopedia)pigeon, common name for members of the large family Columbidae, land birds, cosmopolitan in temperate and tropical regions, characterized by stout bodies, short necks, small heads, and thick, heavy pl...

white-eye

(Encyclopedia)white-eye, common name for warblerlike, arboreal birds, including 85 species in the family Zosteropidae, and for certain species of ducks. The members of Zosteropidae, with the exception of a few spec...

Fuller, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Fuller, Margaret, 1810–50, American writer, lecturer, and public intellectual, b. Cambridgeport (now part of Cambridge), Mass. She was one of the most influential personalities in the American liter...

Jones, John Paul

(Encyclopedia)Jones, John Paul, 1747–92, American naval hero, b. near Kirkcudbright, Scotland. His name was originally simply John Paul. After the Revolution Jones was sent to Europe to collect the prize mone...

chromium

(Encyclopedia)chromium krōˈmēəm [key] [Gr.,=color], metallic chemical element; symbol Cr; at. no. 24; at. wt. 51.9961; m.p. about 1,857℃; b.p. 2,672℃; sp. gr. about 7.2 at 20℃; valence +2, +3, +6. Chromiu...

White House

(Encyclopedia)White House, official name of the executive mansion of the President of the United States. It is on the south side of Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C., facing Lafayette Square. The building, constr...

boron

(Encyclopedia)boron bōrˈŏn [key] [New Gr. from borax], chemical element; symbol B; at. no. 5; interval in which at. wt. ranges 10.806–10.821; m.p. about 2,300℃; sublimation point about 2,550℃; sp. gr. 2.3 ...

Baltimore

(Encyclopedia)Baltimore, city (2020 pop. 575,584), N central Md., surrounded by but politically independent of Baltimore co., on the Patapsco River estuary, an arm of...

lichen

(Encyclopedia)lichen līˈkən [key], usually slow-growing organism of simple structure, composed of fungi (see Fungi) and photosynthetic green algae or cyanobacteria living together in a symbiotic relationship and...

mole, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)mole, in zoology, common name for the small, burrowing, insectivorous mammals of the family Talpidae, found throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Moles are trapped as pests, although they prob...