Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

manslaughter

(Encyclopedia)manslaughter, homicide committed without justification or excuse but distinguished from murder by the absence of the element of malice aforethought. Modern criminal statutes usually divide it into deg...

sabotage

(Encyclopedia)sabotage [Fr., sabot=wooden shoe; hence, to work clumsily], form of direct action by workers against employers through obstruction of work and/or lowering of plant efficiency. Methods range from peace...

St.-John's-wort

(Encyclopedia)St.-John's-wort, any species of the large and widespread herbaceous or shrubby genus Hypericum of the family Hypericaceae (St.-John's-wort family), usually found in moist, open places and often having...

Baltimore, David

(Encyclopedia)Baltimore, David bôlˈtĭmôr [key], 1938–, American microbiologist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Rockefeller Univ., 1964. He conducted (1965–68) virology research at the Salk Institute before becomin...

accessory

(Encyclopedia)accessory, in criminal law, a person who, though not present at the commission of a crime, becomes a participator in the crime either before or after the fact of commission. An accessory before the fa...

dimension, in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)dimension, in mathematics, number of parameters or coordinates required locally to describe points in a mathematical object (usually geometric in character). For example, the space we inhabit is three...

dissociation

(Encyclopedia)dissociation, in chemistry, separation of a substance into atoms or ions. Thermal dissociation occurs at high temperatures. For example, hydrogen molecules (H2) dissociate into atoms (H) at very high ...

Grand Island

(Encyclopedia)Grand Island <1> City (2020 pop. 53,131), seat of Hall co., S Nebr., on the Wood River near its junction with the Platte; settled 1857 on the Plat...

polyhedron

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Polyhedrons polyhedron pŏlˌēhēˈdrən [key], closed solid bounded by plane faces; each face of a polyhedron is a polygon. A cube is a polyhedron bounded by six polygons (in this case squar...

jeopardy

(Encyclopedia)jeopardy, in law, condition of a person charged with a crime and thus in danger of punishment. At common law a defendant could be exposed to jeopardy for the same offense only once; exposing a person ...

Browse by Subject