lake

Lake , n. [AS. lac, L. lacus; akin to AS. lagu lake, sea, Icel. lögr; OIr. loch; cf. Gr. la`kkos pond, tank. Cf. Loch, Lough.]

A large body of water contained in a depression of the earth's surface, and supplied from the drainage of a more or less extended area.

&fist; Lakes are for the most part of fresh water; the salt lakes, like the Great Salt Lake of Utah, have usually no outlet to the ocean.

Lake dwellers (Ethnol.), people of a prehistoric race, or races, which inhabited different parts of Europe. Their dwellings were built on piles in lakes, a short distance from the shore. Their relics are common in the lakes of Switzerland. -- Lake dwellings (Archæol.), dwellings built over a lake, sometimes on piles, and sometimes on rude foundations kept in place by piles; specifically, such dwellings of prehistoric times. Lake dwellings are still used by many savage tribes. Called also lacustrine dwellings. See Crannog. -- Lake fly (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of dipterous flies of the genus Chironomus. In form they resemble mosquitoes, but they do not bite. The larvæ live in lakes. -- Lake herring (Zoöl.), the cisco (Coregonus Artedii). -- Lake poets, Lake school, a collective name originally applied in contempt, but now in honor, to Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth, who lived in the lake country of Cumberland, England, Lamb and a few others were classed with these by hostile critics. Called also lakers and lakists. -- Lake sturgeon (Zoöl.), a sturgeon (Acipenser rubicundus), of moderate size, found in the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It is used as food. -- Lake trout (Zoöl.), any one of several species of trout and salmon; in Europe, esp. Salmo fario; in the United States, esp. Salvelinus namaycush of the Great Lakes, and of various lakes in New York, Eastern Maine, and Canada. A large variety of brook trout (S. fontinalis), inhabiting many lakes in New England, is also called lake trout. See Namaycush. -- Lake whitefish. (Zoöl.) See Whitefish. -- Lake whiting (Zoöl.), an American whitefish (Coregonus Labradoricus), found in many lakes in the Northern United States and Canada. It is more slender than the common whitefish.

Lake (lāk), v. i. [AS. lācan, læcan, to spring, jump, lāc play, sport, or fr. Icel. leika to play, sport; both akin to Goth. laikan to dance. √120. Cf. Knowledge.]

To play; to sport. [Prov. Eng.]

Lake , n. [Cf. G. laken.]

A kind of fine white linen, formerly in use. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Lake (lāk), n. [F. laque, fr. Per. See Lac.]

A pigment formed by combining some coloring matter, usually by precipitation, with a metallic oxide or earth, esp. with aluminium hydrate; as, madder lake; Florentine lake; yellow lake, etc.