Columbia Encyclopedia

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applejack

(Encyclopedia)applejack, brandy made by distilling hard cider or fermented apple pomace. Another method of making applejack, now rarely used, is to let fermented cider freeze and then to remove the ice. It was one ...

Penutian

(Encyclopedia)Penutian pəno͞oˈshən [key], linguistic family, or stock, of Native Americans of North and Central America. See Native American languages. ...

Westminster Conference

(Encyclopedia)Westminster Conference, 1866–67, held in London to settle the plan for confederation of the Canadian provinces. The resolutions on confederation that had been framed at the Quebec Conference (1864) ...

United Presbyterian Church

(Encyclopedia)United Presbyterian Church, two denominations of Presbyterianism. 1 In Scotland, the United Presbyterian Church was formed by the union (1847) of the United Secession Church with the majority of the c...

quaking grass

(Encyclopedia)quaking grass, any plant of the genus Briza, annuals or perennials of the Poaceae (grass family), cultivated for the graceful clusters of seeds, which vibrate in a breeze and are used in everlasting b...

Deloria, Vine Victor Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Deloria, Vine, Jr., 1933–2005, American author, theologian, historian, and activist, b. Marin, S.Dak. Considered by some to be the leading intellectua...

honeysuckle

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Trumpet honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens honeysuckle, common name for some members of the Caprifoliaceae, a family comprised mostly of vines and shrubs of the Northern Hemisphere, especially...

Guiana

(Encyclopedia)Guiana gēănˈə, –änˈ– [key], region, NE South America. It faces the Atlantic Ocean on the north and east and is enclosed on the west and south within a vast semicircle formed by the linked ri...

Chibcha

(Encyclopedia)Chibcha chĭbˈchə [key], indigenous people of the eastern cordillera of the Andes of Colombia. Although trade with neighboring tribes was common, the Chibcha seem to have evolved their culture in co...

turkey , in zoology

(Encyclopedia)turkey, common name for a large game and poultry bird related to the grouse and the pheasant. Its name derives from its “turk-turk” call. Turkeys are indigenous to the New World; American fossils ...