from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Lake \Lake\, n. [AS. lac, L. lacus; akin to AS. lagu lake, sea,
Icel. l["o]gr; 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.
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Note: 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.
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{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} (Archaeol.), 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} (Zool.), any one of numerous species of dipterous
flies of the genus {Chironomus}. In form they resemble
mosquitoes, but they do not bite. The larvae live in
lakes.
{Lake herring} (Zool.), 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} (Zool.), a sturgeon ({Acipenser rubicundus}),
of moderate size, found in the Great Lakes and the
Mississippi River. It is used as food.
{Lake trout} (Zool.), 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 ({Salvelinus
fontinalis}), inhabiting many lakes in New England, is
also called lake trout. See {Namaycush}.
{Lake whitefish}. (Zool.) See {Whitefish}.
{Lake whiting} (Zool.), an American whitefish ({Coregonus
Labradoricus}), found in many lakes in the Northern United
States and Canada. It is more slender than the common
whitefish.
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