Mount Vesuvius
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One of its earliest recorded eruptions, in a.d. 79, buried Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae under cinders, ash, and mud.
It is the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe. (Another, Mount Etna, is on the island of Sicily.)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
An intricate mechanical model created in 1775 to capture the explosive beauty of Italy's Mount Vesuvius has erupted to life for the very first time, 250 years after it was first imagined.
From Science Daily • Nov. 7, 2025
He writes in a wry, amicable style, skillfully layering on his chosen leitmotifs—the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025
The fire came within a few feet of the Villa, famously a re-creation of an ancient Roman country home that was buried beneath the huge volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 10, 2025
The document, which looks like a lump of charcoal, was charred by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD and is too fragile to ever be physically opened.
From BBC • Feb. 5, 2025
Newspapers launched crusades against pestilent alleys and excess smoke and identified the worst offenders in print—among them Burnham’s newly opened Masonic Temple, which the Chicago Tribune likened to Mount Vesuvius.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
