Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Tupelo , city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Tupelo to͞oˈpĭlō, tyo͞o– [key], city (1990 pop. 30,685), seat of Lee co., NE Miss.; founded 1859, inc. 1870. It is the trade, processing, and shipping center for a cotton, grain, dairying, and ...

angelfish

(Encyclopedia)angelfish, common name for certain members of the Pomacanthidae, a family of brightly colored reef-dwelling tropical fishes with compressed bodies and small mouths and teeth. They were formerly classi...

harbor seal

(Encyclopedia)harbor seal, most commonly seen seal of the Northern Hemisphere, Phoca vitulina. Harbor seals are found along coasts and in sheltered bays and harbors of North America, Europe, and NE Asia. They range...

Stralsund

(Encyclopedia)Stralsund shträlˈzo͝ontˌ [key], city (1994 pop. 69,230), Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, NE Germany, on the Strelasund (an inlet of the Baltic Sea), opposite Rügen Island. It is an industrial cente...

white shark

(Encyclopedia)white shark, large, ferocious shark, Carcharodon carcharias. Also known as the great white shark and maneater, this shark can attack swimmers and boats without provocation, though it does not typicall...

Capricornus

(Encyclopedia)Capricornus kăprĭkôrˈnəs [key] [Lat.,=the goat horn], inconspicuous southern constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Sagittarius and Aquarius; it...

Boutwell, George Sewall

(Encyclopedia)Boutwell, George Sewall so͞oˈəl boutˈwəl, –wĕl [key], 1818–1905, American politician, b. Brookline, Mass. He served seven terms in the Massachusetts legislature between 1842 and 1851, was el...

lobster

(Encyclopedia)lobster, marine crustacean with five pairs of jointed legs, the first bearing large pincerlike claws of unequal size adapted to crushing the shells of its prey. The segmented body of the lobster consi...

adaptation

(Encyclopedia)adaptation, in biology, has several meanings. It can mean the adjustment of living matter to environmental conditions and to other living things either in an organism's lifetime (physiological adaptat...

Brooklyn

(Encyclopedia)Brooklyn bro͝okˈlĭn [key], borough of New York City (2020 pop. 2,736,074), 71 sq mi (184 sq ...