Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) sandblast, stream of sand or other abrasive particles driven by a jet of compressed air or water or by centrifugal force against a surface to clean or abrade it. When centrifugal force is used, the ab...

(Encyclopedia) breakwater, offshore structure to protect a harbor from wave energy or deflect currents. When it also serves as a pier, it is called a quay; when covered by a roadway it is called a mole. In the Unite...

(Encyclopedia) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. agency established (1970) in the Dept. of Labor (see Labor, United States Department of) to develop and enforce regulations for the safety an...

(Encyclopedia)  National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., established in 1987. Washington-area philanthropist and art collector Wilhelmina Cole Holl...

(Encyclopedia) rain, precipitation in liquid form. It consists of drops of water falling from clouds; if the drops are very small, they are collectively termed drizzle. Rain plays a key role in the hydrologic, or wa...

(Encyclopedia) probation, method by which the punishment of a convicted offender is conditionally suspended. The offender must remain in the community and under the supervision of a probation officer, who is usually...

(Encyclopedia) Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), a Colonial patriotic society in the United States, open to women having one or more ancestors who aided the cause of the Revolution. The society was organiz...

(Encyclopedia) Battle of the Bulge, popular name in World War II for the German counterattack in the Ardennes, Dec., 1944–Jan., 1945. More than a million men fought in what is also known as the Battle of the Ard...

(Encyclopedia) Fort Niagara, post on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Niagara River, NW N.Y. It was strategically located on the water route to the fur lands. French explorer Robert LaSalle er...

(Encyclopedia) Hoboken hōˈbōkən, –bəkən [key], city (2020 pop. 60,419), Hudson co., NE N.J.,...