Lake

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. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

{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} (Arch[ae]ol.), 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} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of dipterous flies of the genus {Chironomus}. In form they resemble mosquitoes, but they do not bite. The larv[ae] live in lakes.

{Lake herring} (Zo["o]l.), 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} (Zo["o]l.), a sturgeon ({Acipenser rubicundus}), of moderate size, found in the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It is used as food.

{Lake trout} (Zo["o]l.), 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}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Whitefish}.

{Lake whiting} (Zo["o]l.), an American whitefish ({Coregonus Labradoricus}), found in many lakes in the Northern United States and Canada. It is more slender than the common whitefish. [1913 Webster]