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Webster 1913 Edition


Lake

Lake

(lāk)
,
Noun.
[F.
laque
, fr. Per. See
Lac
.]
A pigment formed by combining some coloring matter, usually by precipitation, with a metallic oxide or earth, esp. with aluminium hydrate;
as, madder
lake
; Florentine
lake
; yellow
lake
, etc.

Lake

,
Noun.
[Cf. G.
laken
.]
A kind of fine white linen, formerly in use.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.

Lake

(lāk)
,
Verb.
I.
[AS.
lācan
,
læcan
, to spring, jump,
lāc
play, sport, or fr. Icel.
leika
to play, sport; both akin to Goth.
laikan
to dance. √120. Cf.
Knowledge
.]
To play; to sport.
[Prov. Eng.]

Lake

,
Noun.
[AS.
lac
, L.
lacus
; akin to AS.
lagu
lake, sea, Icel.
lögr
; OIr.
loch
; cf. Gr.
λάκκοσ
pond, tank. Cf.
Loch
,
Lough
.]
A large body of water contained in a depression of the earth’s surface, and supplied from the drainage of a more or less extended area.
☞ Lakes are for the most part of fresh water; the salt lakes, like the Great Salt Lake of Utah, have usually no outlet to the ocean.
Lake dwellers
(Ethnol.)
,
people of a prehistoric race, or races, which inhabited different parts of Europe. Their dwellings were built on piles in lakes, a short distance from the shore. Their relics are common in the lakes of Switzerland.
Lake dwellings
(Archaeol.)
,
dwellings built over a lake, sometimes on piles, and sometimes on rude foundations kept in place by piles; specifically, such dwellings of prehistoric times. Lake dwellings are still used by many savage tribes. Called also
lacustrine dwellings
. See
Crannog
.
Lake fly
(Zool.)
,
any one of numerous species of dipterous flies of the genus
Chironomus
. In form they resemble mosquitoes, but they do not bite. The larvae live in lakes.
Lake herring
(Zool.)
,
the cisco (
Coregonus Artedii
).
Lake poets
,
Lake school
,
a collective name originally applied in contempt, but now in honor, to Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth, who lived in the lake country of Cumberland, England, Lamb and a few others were classed with these by hostile critics. Called also
lakers
and
lakists
.
Lake sturgeon
(Zool.)
,
a sturgeon (
Acipenser rubicundus
), of moderate size, found in the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It is used as food.
Lake trout
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of trout and salmon; in Europe, esp.
Salmo fario
; in the United States, esp.
Salvelinus namaycush
of the Great Lakes, and of various lakes in New York, Eastern Maine, and Canada. A large variety of brook trout (
Salvelinus fontinalis
), inhabiting many lakes in New England, is also called
lake trout
. See
Namaycush
.
Lake whitefish
.
(Zool.)
See
Whitefish
.
Lake whiting
(Zool.)
,
an American whitefish (
Coregonus Labradoricus
), found in many lakes in the Northern United States and Canada. It is more slender than the common whitefish.

Webster 1828 Edition


Lake

LAKE

,
Verb.
I.
To play; to sport. North of England. This is play, without a prefix.

LAKE

,
Noun.
[L. lacus. A lake is a stand of water, from the root of lay. Hence L. lagena, Eng. flagon.]
1.
A large and extensive collection of water contained in a cavity or hollow of the earth. It differs from a pond in size, the latter being a collection of small extent; but sometimes a collection of water is called a pond or a lake indifferently. North America contains some of the largest lakes on the globe, particularly the lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior.
2.
A middle color between ultramarine and vermilion, made of cochineal.