Columbia Encyclopedia

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gambling

(Encyclopedia)gambling or gaming, betting of money or valuables on, and often participation in, games of chance (some involving degrees of skill). In England and in the United States, gambling was not a common-law ...

squirrel

(Encyclopedia)squirrel, name for small or medium-sized rodents of the family Sciuridae, found throughout the world except in Australia, Madagascar, and the polar regions; it is applied especially to the tree-living...

cat

(Encyclopedia)cat, name applied broadly to the carnivorous mammals constituting the family Felidae, and specifically to the domestic cat, Felis catus. The great roaring cats, the lion, tiger, and leopard are anatom...

transportation

(Encyclopedia)transportation, conveyance of goods and people over land, across water, and through the air. See also commerce. The first practical attempts at air transportation began with the invention of the h...

sports

(Encyclopedia)sports, athletic games or tests of skill undertaken primarily for the diversion of those who take part or those who observe them. The range is great; usually, however, the term is restricted to any pl...

rodent

(Encyclopedia)rodent, member of the mammalian order Rodentia, characterized by front teeth adapted for gnawing and cheek teeth adapted for chewing. The Rodentia is by far the largest mammalian order; nearly half of...

salmon, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)salmon sămˈən [key], member of the Salmonidae, a family of marine fish that spawn in freshwater, including the salmons, the trouts, and the chars (subfamily Salmoninae), the whitefish and the cisco...

Canadian literature, English

(Encyclopedia)Canadian literature, English, literary works produced in Canada and written in the English language. The essayist Northrop Frye is noted for his systematic classification of literature, presented in...

Inca

(Encyclopedia)Inca ĭngˈkə [key], pre-Columbian empire, W South America. The name Inca may specifically refer to the emperor, but is generally used to mean the empire or the people. When Francisco Pizarro lande...

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