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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

Louise says: "We all grow veggies down there. We've got the chicken field. We've got eight acres of woodland. We've got the lake down there and we've got a huge field."

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

The province of Ontario, established in 1867, was named after the lake — not the other way around.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

One lake, Xochimilco, survives, located about an hour’s taxi ride south of the city’s center.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

China also halted rescue efforts, with state media saying a lake formed by immense piles of debris had begun overflowing.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

They told them it was a model of something called the Akosombo Dam—a national project and wonder of engineering that would turn the river, upstream of Akosombo, into a lake!

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

"Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario. Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario," Ford said.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

The Seneca Nation is calling on President Donald Trump to reverse his decision to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America,” arguing that the move disregards centuries of Indigenous history and the United States’ treaty obligations.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

During the fall of 2024, Cvijanovich led a series of field trips to Timpanogos Rock Glacier, carrying sensitive equipment to the buried ice above Emerald Lake.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

If I don’t want to wait in line, I’ll head to Dayglow in Silver Lake where some of my favorite baristas are generous enough to let me try whatever new concoction they’re experimenting with.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

“You are moving forward, gliding across Texcoco Lake, where your mother’s people made their home.”

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

Related Words

• basin
• lagoon
• pond
• pool
• reservoir