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Definition of 'lava'

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lava

(lɑvə , lævə )
Word forms: lavas
1. mass noun
Lava is the very hot liquid rock that comes out of a volcano.
Mexico's Mount Colima began spewing lava and ash last night.
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

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lava

picture of lava
© Budkov Denis, shutterstock
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lava in American English

(ˈlɑvə ; ˈlævə )
noun
1. 
melted rock issuing from a volcano
2. 
such rock when solidified by cooling
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
It < dial. (Neapolitan) lave < L labes, a fall, subsidence < labi, to slide < IE base *lāb-, to hang down > lap1, lip
Word Frequency

lava in American English

(ˈlɑːvə, ˈlævə)
noun
1. 
the molten, fluid rock that issues from a volcano or volcanic vent
2. 
the rock formed when this solidifies, occurring in many varieties differing greatly in structure and constitution
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019 by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1740–50; ‹ It, orig. Neapolitan dial.: avalanche ‹ L lābēs a sliding down, falling, akin to lābī to slide]
Word Frequency

lava in British English

(ˈlɑːvə )
noun
1. 
magma emanating from volcanoes and other vents
2. 
any extrusive igneous rock formed by the cooling and solidification of molten lava
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C18: from Italian (Neapolitan dialect), from Latin lavāre to wash

Examples of 'lava' in a sentence
lava

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…
We could see the glowing lava flowing down the mountain through the night.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Days out include whale watching and horse riding on lava fields.
The Sun (2006)
What do you think is in the bubbles that are rising up in the lava lamp?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Stopping lava flow has stumped governments across the world.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Banana plantations and forests give way to volcanic cones and lava fields.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The lava lamp contents should not be drunk.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Rivers of lava flowed down the flanks of the volcano.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Part of growing is learning how to channel what lava flows inside.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It was emitting jets of hot lava up to 200 metres high.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
There are flying angels, groovy ghosts and hair that glows like a lava lamp.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Not surprisingly, it is by the people who made the original lava lamp.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Earlier eruptions claimed 39 lives after lava flows and tremors caused deadly avalanches.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Like the lava lamp, the generation of granite demands a source of energy.
Richard Fortey THE EARTH: An Intimate History (2004)
He also installed three-storey high lava lamps.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
As a quirk, guests are given a lava lamp and bowl of goldfish on arrival.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
These once supplied the great lava flows that built a shield volcano, long since ruined and dismantled by time.
Richard Fortey THE EARTH: An Intimate History (2004)
I was watching the lava flow out of Mt.
Christianity Today (2000)
THIS photographer must be a lava of volcanoes as he stands worryingly near to an eruption to get a close-up.
The Sun (2012)
It was a lava field off route 1, the ring road that runs around the island.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
During the ceremony, which took place on the lava fields, we both cried when we were reading our vows.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It's not the work of little green men but the result of a vast volcanic lava flow that took place up to 100 million years ago.
The Sun (2012)

Word lists with
lava

rock

Quick word challenge

Quiz Review

Question: 1
-

Score: 0 / 5

Which type of rock am I?

any fine-grained igneous rock consisting essentially of quartz and feldspar
basalt felsite pegmatite

Which type of rock am I?

a very hard metamorphic rock consisting of a mosaic of intergrown quartz crystals
arkose pegmatite quartzite

Which type of rock am I?

a dark basic intrusive igneous rock consisting of plagioclase feldspar and a pyroxene, such as augite; often emplaced in dykes
basalt dolerite gabbro

Which type of rock am I?

an ultrabasic igneous rock consisting mainly of olivine
basalt dunite peridotite

Which type of rock am I?

a dark volcanic glass formed by very rapid solidification of lava
coal lava obsidian
Your score:

Related word partners
lava
 

molten lava
spew lava
volcanic lava

Trends of
lava

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In other languages
lava

British English: lava /ˈlɑːvə/ NOUN
Lava is the very hot liquid rock that comes out of a volcano.
... the lava and ash from the volcano.
  • American English: lava /ˈlævə, ˈlɑvə/
  • Arabic: حِمَمٌ بُرْكَانِيَّةٌ
  • Brazilian Portuguese: lava
  • Chinese: 熔岩
  • Croatian: lava
  • Czech: láva
  • Danish: lava
  • Dutch: lava
  • European Spanish: lava
  • Finnish: laava
  • French: lave
  • German: Lava
  • Greek: λάβα
  • Italian: lava
  • Japanese: 溶岩
  • Korean: 용암
  • Norwegian: lava
  • Polish: lawa
  • European Portuguese: lava
  • Romanian: lavă
  • Russian: лава
  • Spanish: lava
  • Swedish: lava
  • Thai: ลาวา (หินหลอมเหลวจากภูเขาไฟระเบิด)
  • Turkish: lav
  • Ukrainian: лава
  • Vietnamese: nham thạch

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Browse alphabetically
lava

  • Lautrec
  • lauwine
  • lav
  • lava
  • lava bed
  • lava cave
  • lava dome

  • All ENGLISH words that begin with 'L'

Related terms of
lava

  • lava-lava
  • lava bed
  • lava cave
  • lava dome
  • lava flow

  • View more related words

Source

Definition of lava from the Collins English Dictionary
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Quick word challenge

Quiz Review

Question: 1
-

Score: 0 / 5

tail or tale?

Which version is correct?
We fell in love with a black dog with a long tail.  We fell in love with a black dog with a long tale. 

farther or father?

Which version is correct?
My sisters moved even farther away from home. My sisters moved even father away from home.

ring or wring?

Drag the correct answer into the box.
ring
wring
You can   me anytime.

ridden or rode?

Which version is correct?
He ridden to work on a bicycle. He rode to work on a bicycle.

dear or deer?

Drag the correct answer into the box.
dear
deer
Mrs Cavendish is a   friend of mine.
Your score:
Nov 20, 2021
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all hail
an archaic greeting or salutation
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Scrabble score
for 'lava':
7

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Question: 1
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mat or matt?

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mat
We settled for a creamy white   emulsion.

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discreet
Anna has two   sets of friends

freeze or frieze?

Drag the correct answer into the box.
frieze
freeze
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Which version is correct?
Thyme passed, and still she did not appear. Time passed, and still she did not appear.

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Which version is correct?
The business made a small profit in the first year. The business made a small prophet in the first year.
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