Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

222 results found

mamba

(Encyclopedia)mamba, name for African snakes of the genus Dendroaspis, in the cobra family. Widely distributed throughout Africa except in the deserts, mambas have extremely toxic venom. When attacking they raise t...

proverb

(Encyclopedia)proverb, short statement of wisdom or advice that has passed into general use. More homely than aphorisms, proverbs generally refer to common experience and are often expressed in metaphor, alliterati...

steel industry

(Encyclopedia)steel industry, the business of processing iron ore into steel, which in its simplest form is an iron-carbon alloy, and in some cases, turning that metal into partially finished products or recycling ...

impala

(Encyclopedia)impala, species of antelope, Aepyceros melampus, found in the savannah and bush country of E and S Africa. It is the antelope most commonly depicted in illustrations and in motion pictures. It is abou...

Paulson, Henry Merritt, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Paulson, Henry Merritt, Jr., 1946–, U.S. investment banker and government official, b. Palm Beach, Fla., grad. Harvard (M.B.A., 1970). After working as an assistant to the comptroller at the Pentago...

Powell, Jerome Hayden

(Encyclopedia)Powell, Jerome Hayden, 1953–, U.S. investment banker and government official, b. Washington, D.C., A.B. Princeton, 1975, J.D. Georgetown Univ., 1979. He worked with New York law firms and in investm...

Walsh, Lawrence Edward

(Encyclopedia)Walsh, Lawrence Edward, 1912–2014, Canadian-born American lawyer, grad. Columbia (1932), Columbia law school (1935). Walsh's family moved to the Unite States while he was an infant. A Republican, he...

Edwards, John Reid

(Encyclopedia)Edwards, John Reid (Johnny Reid Edwards), 1953–, U.S. politician, b. Seneca, S.C., grad. North Carolina State Univ. (B.A., 1974), Univ. of North Carolina (J.D., 1977). The son of a textile-mill work...

duiker

(Encyclopedia)duiker dīˈkər, dāˈ– [key], name for members of a group of small, light antelopes, found in thick brush and forest over most of Africa. All stand under 25 in. (64 cm) high at the shoulder. They ...

cranberry

(Encyclopedia)cranberry, low creeping evergreen bog plant of the genus Oxycoccus of the family Ericaceae (heath family). Cranberries are considered by some botanists to belong to the blueberry genus Vaccinium. The ...

Browse by Subject