Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

mausoleum

(Encyclopedia)mausoleum môsəlēˈəm [key], a sepulchral structure or tomb, especially one of some size and architectural pretension, so called from the sepulcher of that name at Halicarnassus, Asia Minor, erecte...

public health

(Encyclopedia)public health, field of medicine and hygiene dealing with the prevention of disease and the promotion of health by government agencies. In the United States, public health authorities are engaged in m...

hibernation

(Encyclopedia)hibernation hīˌbərnāˈshən [key] [Lat.,= wintering], practice, among certain animals, of spending part of the cold season in a more or less dormant state, apparently as protection from cold when ...

communicable diseases

(Encyclopedia)communicable diseases, illnesses caused by microorganisms and transmitted from an infected person or animal to another person or animal. Some diseases are passed on by direct or indirect contact with ...

safety movement

(Encyclopedia)safety movement, widespread effort to prevent accidents that followed the increasing number of casualties in industry, traffic and transportation, and homes arising out of the Industrial Revolution an...

pompano

(Encyclopedia)pompano pŏmˈpənō [key], common name for fishes of the genus Trachinotus, members of a large and important family (Carangidae) of mackerellike fishes, abundant in warm seas around the world. They h...

Hastings, city, New Zealand

(Encyclopedia)Hastings, city, SE North Island, New Zealand, close to Napier. It has extensive food-processing industries, including meatpacking, canning, and dairy pr...

aflatoxins

(Encyclopedia)aflatoxins ăfˈlətäkˌsĭnz [key], a group of secondary metabolites that are cancer-causing byproducts of a mold that grows on nuts and grains, particularly peanuts. Although aflatoxin is most comm...

Birdseye, Clarence

(Encyclopedia)Birdseye, Clarence, 1886–1956, American inventor and founder of the frozen food industry, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied at Amherst College. From 1910 he worked as a naturalist, and in 1912 he went to L...

salivary glands

(Encyclopedia)salivary glands sălˈəvârˌē [key], in humans, three pairs of glands that secrete the alkaline digestive fluid, saliva, into the mouth. Most animals have salivary glands that resemble those in hum...