Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

323 results found

guilt

(Encyclopedia)guilt, in psychology, a term denoting an unpleasant feeling associated with unfulfilled wishes. Sigmund Freud initially contended that sexual drives produce sense of guilt in the superego, the moral c...

Sullivan, Harry Stack

(Encyclopedia)Sullivan, Harry Stack, 1892–1949, American psychiatrist, b. Norwich, N.Y., M.D. Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery, 1917. He was, along with his teacher William Alanson White, responsible for t...

spinal puncture

(Encyclopedia)spinal puncture, surgical penetration of the spinal canal by a hollow needle introduced between two of the lumbar vertebrae. The arrangement permits injection of antibiotics or anesthetics (see anesth...

depression, in psychiatry

(Encyclopedia)depression, in psychiatry, a symptom of mood disorder characterized by intense feelings of loss, sadness, hopelessness, failure, and rejection. The two major types of mood disorder are unipolar disord...

Gregory, Dick

(Encyclopedia)Gregory, Dick (Richard Claxton Gregory), 1932–2017, African-American civil-rights activist and comedian, b. St. Louis, Mo. A biting satirist who used the struggle for civil rights and other topical ...

nosebleed

(Encyclopedia)nosebleed, nasal hemorrhage occurring as the result of local injury or disturbance. Most nosebleeds are not serious and occur when one of the small veins of the septum (the partition between the nostr...

urine

(Encyclopedia)urine, clear, amber-colored fluid formed by the kidneys that carries metabolic wastes out of the body (see urinary system). As the blood circulates it collects excretory products from the tissues and ...

baldness

(Encyclopedia)baldness, thinning or loss of hair as a result of illness, functional disorder, or hereditary disposition; also known as alopecia. Male pattern baldness, a genetic trait, is the most common cause of b...

parathyroid glands

(Encyclopedia)parathyroid glands pârˌəthīˈroid [key], four small endocrine bodies, located behind the thyroid gland, that govern calcium and phosphorus metabolism. These four masses of tissue (each about the s...

patent medicine

(Encyclopedia)patent medicine, packaged drugs that can be obtained without prescription; the term was formerly used to describe quack remedies sold by peddlers. Patent, or proprietary, medicines are advertised to t...

Browse by Subject