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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

MapQuest decided not to rename the lake, stating in a viral social media post that it is “aware that Lake Ontario is being correctly labeled on our map.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

A body of water that had managed for centuries without an identity crisis had become an A/B test: which lake you saw depended on where you stood and which corporation’s map you opened.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Sunday Trump’s decision to rename the lake is “something out of ‘Saturday Night Live.’”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

The forested island was first spotted in the middle of Williston Reservoir, BC's largest fresh water lake, in early August by boaters who captured the scene in a video that has since gone viral.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Whether you believe it or not, the lake will form!

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

Google, followed by Apple, renamed the Great Lake, which borders New York state and Canada’s Ontario province, for U.S. users.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Google Maps changed it for U.S. users; Canadians kept Lake Ontario, while users elsewhere saw both names.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

Canadian users of the two map services still will see the name Lake Ontario.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

THE SPECS: The 3.5-acre property in Bratenahl sits on the edge of Lake Erie, records show.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Once, we’d teamed up to teach a group of Red Lake rez kids how to play Cherokee marbles out on the dock, and Trey had given me this look.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

• basin
• lagoon
• pond
• pool
• reservoir