Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

producer gas

(Encyclopedia)producer gas, fuel gas consisting chiefly of carbon monoxide and nitrogen. It is prepared in a furnace or generator in which air is forced upward through a burning fuel of coal or coke. Although the f...

heating

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Typical warm-air heating system heating, means of making a building comfortably warm relative to a colder outside temperature. Old, primitive methods of heating a building or a room within it ...

Tai, lake, China

(Encyclopedia)Tai tī [key], lake, c.1,300 sq mi (3,370 sq km), on the border between Jiangsu prov. and Zhejiang prov., E China; second largest freshwater lake in China. Dotted with islands, it is one of China's mo...

Jones, David Charles

(Encyclopedia)Jones, David Charles, 1921–2013, American military officer, b. Aberdeen, S. Dak., studied Univ. of N Dakota and Minot State College. He joined the Army Air Corps at the outbreak of World War II, and...

fog

(Encyclopedia)fog, aggregation of water droplets or ice crystals immediately above the surface of the earth (i.e., a cloud near the ground). A light or thin fog is usually called a mist. Fog may occur when the mois...

Joint Base Andrews

(Encyclopedia)Joint Base Andrews, officially Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility Washington, formerly Andrews Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 4,279 acres (1,732 hectares), central Md., est. 1943. It i...

thunderstorm

(Encyclopedia)thunderstorm, violent, local atmospheric disturbance accompanied by lightning, thunder, and heavy rain, often by strong gusts of wind, and sometimes by hail. The typical thunderstorm caused by convect...

peritonitis

(Encyclopedia)peritonitis pĕrˌĭtənīˈtĭs [key], acute or chronic inflammation of the peritoneum, the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity and surrounds the internal organs. It is caused by invasion of bac...

Camden, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Camden, city (2020 pop. 71,791), seat of Camden co., W N.J., a port on the Delaware River opposite Philadelphia, settled 1681, inc. 1828. The opening of...

Ural

(Encyclopedia)Ural yo͝orˈəl, Rus. o͞orälˈ [key], river, c.1,580 mi (2,540 km) long, rising in the S Urals, flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. Part of the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia, the ...

Browse by Subject