Adjacent Words

Volcano definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VOLCA'NO, n.
1. In geology, an opening in the surface of the earth or in a mountain, from which smoke, flames, stones, lava or other substances are ejected. Such are seen in Etna and Vesuvius in Sicily and Italy, and Hecla in Iceland. It is vulgarly called a burning mountain. Herschel has discovered a volcano in the moon.
2. The mountain that ejects fire, smoke, etc.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a fissure in the earth's crust (or in the surface of some other planet) through which molten lava and gases erupt [syn: vent, volcano]
2: a mountain formed by volcanic material

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -noes or -nos) Etymology: Italian or Spanish; Italian vulcano, from Spanish volcán, ultimately from Latin Volcanus Vulcan Date: 1613 1. a vent in the crust of the earth or another planet or a moon from which usually molten or hot rock and steam issue; also a hill or mountain composed wholly or in part of the ejected material 2. something of explosively violent potential

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -oes) 1 a mountain or hill having an opening or openings in the earth's crust through which lava, cinders, steam, gases, etc., are or have been expelled continuously or at intervals. 2 a a state of things likely to cause a violent outburst. b a violent esp. suppressed feeling. Etymology: It. f. L Volcanus Vulcan, Roman god of fire

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Volcano Vol*ca"no, n.; pl. Volcanoes. [It. volcano, vulcano, fr. L. Vulcanus Vulkan, the god of fire. See Vulkan.] (Geol.) A mountain or hill, usually more or less conical in form, from which lava, cinders, steam, sulphur gases, and the like, are ejected; -- often popularly called a burning mountain. Note: Volcanoes include many of the most conspicuous and lofty mountains of the earth, as Mt. Vesuvius in Italy (4,000 ft. high), Mt. Loa in Hawaii (14,000 ft.), Cotopaxi in South America (nearly 20,000 ft.), which are examples of active volcanoes. The crater of a volcano is usually a pit-shaped cavity, often of great size. The summit crater of Mt. Loa has a maximum length of 13,000 ft., and a depth of nearly 800 feet. Beside the chief crater, a volcano may have a number of subordinate craters.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(volcanoes) A volcano is a mountain from which hot melted rock, gas, steam, and ash from inside the earth sometimes burst. The volcano erupted last year killing about 600 people... N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

belch, burst, cascade, debouchment, dissiliency, eructation, eruption, flare-up, gush, jet, outbreak, outburst, rapids, rush, spate, spew, spurt, torrent, volcan