Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

323 results found

electroconvulsive therapy

(Encyclopedia)electroconvulsive therapy in psychiatry, treatment of mood disorders by means of electricity; the broader term “shock therapy” also includes the use of chemical agents. The therapeutic possibiliti...

gynecology

(Encyclopedia)gynecology gīnˌəkŏlˈəjē [key], branch of medicine specializing in the disorders of the female reproductive system. Modern gynecology deals with menstrual disorders, menopause, infectious diseas...

raccoon

(Encyclopedia)raccoon, nocturnal New World mammal of the genus Procyon. The common raccoon of North America, Procyon lotor, also called coon, is found from S Canada to South America, except in parts of the Rocky Mt...

diathermy

(Encyclopedia)diathermy dīˈəthûrˌmē [key], therapeutic measure used in medicine to generate heat in the body tissues. Electrodes and other instruments are used to transmit electric current to surface structur...

fiber, dietary

(Encyclopedia)fiber, dietary, bulky part of food that cannot be broken down by enzymes in the small intestine of the digestive system. Almost all natural fiber comes from plants. Although fiber has little nutrition...

Sydenham, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Sydenham, Thomas, 1624–89, English physician, called “the English Hippocrates.” He studied at Oxford and Montpellier, and practiced in London. His conceptions of the causes and treatments of epi...

music hall

(Encyclopedia)music hall. In England, the Licensing Act of 1737 confined the production of legitimate plays to the two royal theaters—Drury Lane and Covent Garden; the demands for entertainment of the rising lowe...

malnutrition

(Encyclopedia)malnutrition, insufficiency of one or more nutritional elements necessary for health and well-being. Primary malnutrition is caused by the lack of essential foodstuffs—usually vitamins, minerals, or...

Kroc, Ray

(Encyclopedia)Kroc, Ray (Raymond Albert Kroc), 1902–84, American fast-food restauranteur and franchiser, b. Chicago. Kroc held several jobs before becoming (1937) the distributor for a blender that simultaneously...

Coney Island

(Encyclopedia)Coney Island kōˈnē [key], beach resort, amusement center, and neighborhood of S Brooklyn borough of New York City, SE N.Y., on the Atlantic Ocean. The tidal creek that once separated the island fro...