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• lake
  lake

  noun

  a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size, surrounded by land.
• Lake
  Lake

  noun

  Simon, 1866–1945, U.S. engineer and naval architect.

lake

¹ American  

[leyk] / leɪk /

noun

1. a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size, surrounded by land.

2. any similar body or pool of other liquid, as oil.

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idioms

1. (go) jump in the lake, (used as an exclamation of dismissal or impatience.)

lake ² American  

[leyk] / leɪk /

noun

1. any of various pigments prepared from animal, vegetable, or coal-tar coloring matters by chemical or other union with metallic compounds.

2. a red pigment prepared from lac or cochineal by combination with a metallic compound.

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Lake ³ American  

[leyk] / leɪk /

noun

1. Simon, 1866–1945, U.S. engineer and naval architect.

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lake ¹ British  

/ leɪk /

noun

1. an expanse of water entirely surrounded by land and unconnected to the sea except by rivers or streams

2. anything resembling this

3. a surplus of a liquid commodity

   a wine lake

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lake ² British  

/ leɪk /

noun

1. a bright pigment used in textile dyeing and printing inks, produced by the combination of an organic colouring matter with an inorganic compound, usually a metallic salt, oxide, or hydroxide See also mordant

2. a red dye obtained by combining a metallic compound with cochineal

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lake Scientific  

/ lāk /

1. A large inland body of standing fresh or salt water. Lakes generally form in depressions, such as those created by glacial or volcanic action; they may also form when a section of a river becomes dammed or when a channel is isolated by a change in a river's course.

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Etymology

Origin of lake¹

before 1000; Middle English lak ( e ), lac ( e ), apparently a conflation of Old French lac, its source, Latin lacus (compare Greek lákkos, Old Irish loch, Old English, Old Saxon lagu sea, water) and Old English lacu stream, water course (compare leccan to moisten, modern dial. lake stream, channel; see leach ¹)

Origin of lake²

First recorded in 1610–20; variant of lac ¹

Explanation

A lake is a large body of water that is surrounded by land. The lake's water can be fresh (like Lake Michigan) or, more rarely, salty (like the Great Salt Lake). A lake is generally accepted as being bigger than a "pond." Lake is also a type of pigment or dye that is made when a dye that can dissolve is mixed with a metallic salt or other binder that is incapable of being dissolved, rendering an insoluble pigment. Indigo lake, for example, is a blue pigment that was originally made from the woad plant but later from the indigo plant. Carmine or crimson lake, on the other hand, is made from crushed cochineal insects and is a red pigment.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lake Lake

Approximately 125 million years ago, a small crocodile died in a karstic lake close to the coast of what is now the Catalan Pre-Pyrenees.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Its body settled into fine lake sediments, where unusually favorable conditions helped preserve it in exceptional detail.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

The plane was still in the lake as of Sunday morning.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

Since 2014, under licence from Natural Resources Wales, Hughes has been wading into the lake to collect and study the snails.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

When the lake finally reached them, the water rose rapidly.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

It fell in a rural area near Lake Kaunas, in the center of the country, the broadcaster added.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

An international research team studied ancient DNA recovered from human remains at four hunter-gatherer burial sites in the Lake Baikal region of East Siberia.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

During a 2001 business trip to the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, the pair chatted on the plane ride, caught a free outdoor concert and went for a swim.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

Tata has been mining soda ash for years in Lake Magadi, a vast area often covered by a whitish salt crust.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

While the Indigenous people had avoided the area and called it Tesemini, or Lake of Spirits, European settlers enjoyed the cold, clear water.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Related Words

• basin
• lagoon
• pond
• pool
• reservoir