Columbia Encyclopedia

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whiting, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)whiting, fish: see croaker; harvestfish. ...

will, in law

(Encyclopedia)will, in law, document expressing the wishes of a person (known as a testator) concerning the disposition of her property after her death. If a person dies intestate, i.e., without a valid will, statu...

wave, in physics

(Encyclopedia)wave, in physics, the transfer of energy by the regular vibration, or oscillatory motion, either of some material medium or by the variation in magnitude of the field vectors of an electromagnetic fie...

Weissenburg in Bayern

(Encyclopedia)Weissenburg in Bayern vīˈsənbo͝ork ĭn bīˈyərn [key] or Weissenburg, town, Bavaria, S Germany. It is a manufacturing center of Middle Franconia; products include gold and silver lace, processed...

voice, in grammar

(Encyclopedia)voice, grammatical category according to which an action is referred to as done by the subject (active, e.g., men shoot bears) or to the subject (passive, e.g., bears are shot by men). In Latin, voice...

Vulcan, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Vulcan, in astronomy, hypothetical planet whose existence was proposed by Le Verrier to explain part of the advance of the perihelion of Mercury, not all of which could be accounted for by gravitation...

walleye, in medicine

(Encyclopedia)walleye: see strabismus.

walleye, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)walleye or walleyed pike: see perch. ...

bursa, in anatomy

(Encyclopedia)bursa bûrˈsə [key], closed fibrous sac lined with a smooth membrane, producing a viscous lubricant known as synovial fluid. Bursas are found in regions where muscles or tendons rub against other mu...

butte, in geology

(Encyclopedia)butte, an isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top, resulting from the more rapid erosion of the surrounding areas. Buttes are characteristic of the plains of the W United States. See mesa. ...