volcano

[ vol-key-noh ]

noun

, plural vol·ca·noes, vol·ca·nos.

1. a vent in the earth's crust through which lava, steam, ashes, etc., are expelled, either continuously or at irregular intervals.
2. a mountain or hill, usually having a cuplike crater at the summit, formed around such a vent from the ash and lava expelled through it.

volcano

/ vɒlˈkeɪnəʊ /

noun

1. an opening in the earth's crust from which molten lava, rock fragments, ashes, dust, and gases are ejected from below the earth's surface
2. a mountain formed from volcanic material ejected from a vent in a central crater

volcano

/ vŏl-kā′nō /

1. An opening in the Earth's crust from which lava, ash, and hot gases flow or are ejected during an eruption.
2. A usually cone-shaped mountain formed by the materials issuing from such an opening. Volcanoes are usually associated with plate boundaries but can also occur within the interior areas of a tectonic plate. Their shape is directly related to the type of magma that flows from them—the more viscous the magma, the steeper the sides of the volcano.
3. ◆ A volcano composed of gently sloping sheets of basaltic lava from successive volcanic eruptions is called a shield volcano . The lava flows associated with shield volcanos, such as Mauna Loa, on Hawaii, are very fluid.
4. ◆ A volcano composed of steep, alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic materials, including ash, is called a stratovolcano . Stratovolcanos are associated with relatively viscous lava and with explosive eruptions. They are the most common form of large continental volcanos. Mount Vesuvius, Mount Fuji, and Mount St. Helens are stratovolcanos.
5. Also called composite volcano
6. See more at hot spot

volcano

1. A cone-shaped mountain or hill created by molten material that rises from the interior of the Earth to the surface.

Notes

Volcanoes tend to occur along the edges of tectonic plates .

Eruptions and lava flows associated with them can be very destructive. ( See Mount Saint Helens and Mount Vesuvius .)

Word History and Origins

Origin of volcano¹

1605–15; < Italian < Latin Volcānus, variant of Vulcānus Vulcan

Word History and Origins

Origin of volcano¹

C17: from Italian, from Latin Volcānus Vulcan ¹, whose forges were believed to be responsible for volcanic rumblings

Example Sentences

Cassini’s instruments also detected the presence of silica, which can get mixed with water in undersea volcanoes.

From Nautilus

It also includes active volcanoes such as the Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania, and the DallaFilla and Erta Ale in Ethiopia.

From Quartz

The Natural History Museum in London, England offers a guide to making your own model volcano at home.

From Science News For Students

In one of the most poignant scenes in her book, she is hiking on Mauna Kea — the next volcano over from Greene’s Mars habitat — and finds a fern growing amid the volcanic desolation.

From Science News

He particularly likes this approach that linked cycles of pressure inside the volcano with weather conditions.

From Science News For Students

And as we left, spears of sunlight painted the top of the nearby volcano Galeras.

From The Daily Beast

Standing on the edge of the Burfell volcano, you realize what a fragile construct modern civilization is.

From The Daily Beast

It ends with Godzilla lured away from Tokyo with a bird call and trapped in a volcano.

From The Daily Beast

When the volcano blew its top, thousands perished, immolated by fire, boiling magma, and ash.

From The Daily Beast

This week they got Mike Tyson and Razor Ruddock over at the Mirage, where the fake volcano blows up every twenty minutes.

From The Daily Beast

A volcano broke out in the island of St. George, one of the Azores.

From Project Gutenberg

Fujiyama, the noted volcano of Japan, is twelve thousand three hundred and sixty-five feet high.

From Project Gutenberg

And what was a mere laughing, crying child of a man like Aristide Pujol in front of a Ducksmith volcano?

From Project Gutenberg

Torrents of lava poured over the sides of the volcano and destroyed whole villages on the shores of the lake.

From Project Gutenberg

Outwardly cold, Sir Henry seemed to his youthful observer, who now knew him better, to resemble a volcano coated with ice.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• alp
• bluff
• butte
• cliff
• crag
• elevation
• eminence
• height
• mesa
• mount
• palisade
• peak
• pike
• precipice
• range
• ridge
• sierra
• tor