Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

ray, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)ray, extremely flat-bodied cartilaginous marine fish, related to the shark. The pectoral fins of most rays are developed into broad, flat, winglike appendages, attached all along the sides of the head...

ray, in physics

(Encyclopedia)ray, in physics, term denoting the straight line along which light or other form of radiation is propagated from its source. It generally refers to the line of propagation of waves but is also applied...

cathode-ray tube

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Cathode-ray tube cathode-ray tube (CRT), special-purpose electron tube in which electrons are accelerated by high-voltage anodes, formed into a beam by focusing electrodes, and projected towar...

Baker, Ray Stannard

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Ray Stannard, pseud. David Grayson, 1870–1946, American author, b. Lansing, Mich., grad. Michigan State College (now Michigan State Univ.), 1889. At first a Chicago newspaper reporter, he joi...

Cro-Magnon man

(Encyclopedia)Cro-Magnon man krō-măgˈnən, –mănˈyən [key], an early Homo sapiens (the species to which modern humans belong) that lived about 40,000 years ago. Skeletal remains and associated artifacts of t...

old-man's-beard

(Encyclopedia)old-man's-beard, name for several plants, among them a clematis and a lichen. ...

Man, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Man, Isle of, island and dependency of the British crown (2015 est. pop. 83,000), 227 sq mi (588 sq km), off Great Britain, in the Irish Sea. The coast is rocky with precipitous cliffs; the Calf of Ma...

Man Booker Prize

(Encyclopedia)Man Booker Prize and Man Booker International Prize: see Booker Prize. ...

Browse by Subject