Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

scintillation counter

(Encyclopedia)scintillation counter, device for detecting and measuring radiation by means of tiny visible flashes produced by the radiation when it strikes a sensitive substance known as a phosphor (see phosphores...

Colorado tick fever

(Encyclopedia)Colorado tick fever or mountain tick fever, acute disease caused by infection with a double-stranded RNA virus (a Coltvirus) that is transmitted to humans by Rocky Mountain wood ticks (Dermacentor and...

cross-laminated timber

(Encyclopedia)cross-laminated timber (CLT), manufactured wood panels that consist of layers of boards glued together under pressure with the grain of the boards in one layer running perpendicular to the grain in ad...

fence

(Encyclopedia)fence [short for defense], humanly erected barrier between two divisions of land, used to mark a legal or other boundary, to keep animals or people in or out, and sometimes as an ornament. In newly se...

English cocker spaniel

(Encyclopedia)English cocker spaniel, breed of compact sporting dog perfected in England, whose development may be traced back to the original spaniels of Spain. It stands about 16 in. (40.6 cm) high at the shoulde...

baldness

(Encyclopedia)baldness, thinning or loss of hair as a result of illness, functional disorder, or hereditary disposition; also known as alopecia. Male pattern baldness, a genetic trait, is the most common cause of b...

Pap test

(Encyclopedia)Pap test, Pap smear, or Papanicolaou test păpˌənēˈkəlou [key], medical procedure used to detect cancer of the uterine cervix (see uterus). A scraping, brushing, or smear, is taken from the surf...

herbaceous plant

(Encyclopedia)herbaceous plant hûrbāˈshəs [key], plant whose stem is soft and green and shows little growth of wood. The term is used to distinguish such plants from woody plants. Herbaceous plants, or herbs, a...

Antabuse

(Encyclopedia)Antabuse ănˈtəbyo͞os [key], trade name for the drug tetraethylthiuram disulfide, used in the treatment of alcoholism. Also called sulfiram, Antabuse is nontoxic, but it alters the metabolism of al...

hyssop

(Encyclopedia)hyssop hĭsˈəp [key], aromatic, perennial, somewhat woody herb (Hyssopus officinalis) of the family Labiatae (mint family), native to the Old World but partially naturalized in North America. The pl...