a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size, surrounded by land.
any similar body or pool of other liquid, as oil.
any of various pigments prepared from animal, vegetable, or coal-tar coloring matters by chemical or other union with metallic compounds.
a red pigment prepared from lac or cochineal by combination with a metallic compound.
an expanse of water entirely surrounded by land and unconnected to the sea except by rivers or streams
anything resembling this
a surplus of a liquid commodity
a wine lake
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
a red dye obtained by combining a metallic compound with cochineal
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)
First recorded in 1610–20; variant of lac 1
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 Indigo lake, for example, is a blue pigment that was originally made from the woad plant but later from the indigo plant.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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Competition is fierce for professional photographers at Beijing's tourist hotspots, including a scenic lake where women in flowy traditional robes pose for snaps to share on Xiaohongshu, China's massively popular lifestyle app.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Many of his projects remain intact, including the ornamental lake he had dug, and a bathroom papered with a montage of original newspaper clippings chronicling major events from the early 20th century.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
I find myself reaching for the stovetop version after long afternoons at the lake and the baked version on the first truly cold weekends of fall.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
Could recognising Lough Neagh as a legal "person" help restore the largest freshwater lake in these islands?
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
‘Let’s go to the lake and find a lovely place to sit. We’re lucky it’s such a beautiful day.’
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
“There are a lot of voters for whom this is a major question about her,” Lake said.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
Homeowners in Raleigh, N.C., were the most likely to cut prices on their for-sale listings, followed by homeowners in Denver and Salt Lake City.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Since the 1990s, Graham had lived in a one-story white-brick ranch in a wooded subdivision on a peninsula of Lake Hartwell, one of several man-made lakes in the area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
"We're not Emerson, Lake and Palmer travelling in separate buses. We're closer than ever."
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Other structures loomed in the distance, and beyond it all lingered Lake Michigan’s vast liquid darkness.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
