lake

lake — noun

1. an area of fresh or salt water that has land around it on all sides and is not p

1.nounA2
Definition

an area of fresh or salt water that has land around it on all sides and is not part of the ocean, though rivers or streams may connect it to the sea.

Example

Every summer, Élise and her family drove to a mountain lake for their holiday.

collocation: mountain lake / drive to a lake

The water in this lake is clear enough to see fish swimming near the bottom.

Common collocations
  • mountain lake
  • lake shore
  • lake water
  • by the lake
  • across the lake
  • frozen lake
Synonyms
  • pond

    smaller body of water, often man-made or natural but much smaller than a lake

  • reservoir

    a man-made lake used to store drinking water; not a natural feature

  • lagoon

    a shallow body of water separated from the sea by sand or rock; usually coastal

Antonyms
  • ocean

    a huge, continuous body of salt water covering most of the Earth's surface

Grammar Patterns

a/the + lake

Lake + [name] (in proper names)

Common Mistakes

We live near a lake small.
We live near a small lake.
In English, adjectives usually come before the noun, not after.

2. a large amount of unwanted liquid left over from an industrial process, which mu

2.nounB2
Definition

a large amount of unwanted liquid left over from an industrial process, which must be stored or disposed of separately.

Example

The factory produced so much waste liquid that they built a lake to store it.

pattern: a lake of [liquid] for surplus storage

When the tank overflowed, a lake of fuel spread across the concrete yard.

Common collocations
  • lake of fuel
  • lake of oil
  • lake of sludge
  • lake of waste
  • holding lake
Synonyms
  • pool

    a more general term for any collected liquid, not restricted to surplus industrial byproducts

  • reservoir

    emphasises storage, but often for water supplies rather than waste

Antonyms
  • shortage

    a lack of liquid rather than an excess

Grammar Patterns

a lake of + [liquid noun]

Usage Note

Typically found in industrial, mining, or chemical contexts. The phrase 'a lake of [liquid]' describes a collection of surplus or waste material that has to be managed separately from the main production process.

Common Mistakes

There is a lake in the garden after the rain.' (sounds like a natural lake).
There is a large puddle in the garden after the rain.
Use 'puddle' or 'pool' for rainwater on the ground; 'lake' in this sense is limited to industrial surplus contexts.

3. a bright colouring material made by combining a liquid dye with a solid powder,

3.nounC1
Definition

a bright colouring material made by combining a liquid dye with a solid powder, used in artists' paints and named after its shade, such as 'crimson lake'.

Example

The artist used a crimson lake pigment to paint the flowers in her picture.

pattern: [color] + lake pigment

Daichi watched the teacher make rose lake pigment by mixing red dye with white clay.

process: mixing dye with clay to create lake pigment

Common collocations
  • crimson lake
  • rose lake
  • scarlet lake
  • lake pigment
  • lake dye
Synonyms
  • pigment

    the broader category; a lake is one specific type of pigment made by absorption onto a carrier

  • dye

    a soluble colouring substance; lakes are dyes made insoluble by fixing onto a base

Grammar Patterns

[color] + lake

lake + pigment/dye

Usage Note

Almost always preceded by a colour name (crimson lake, rose lake, scarlet lake). Without the colour name, 'lake' alone is ambiguous. Not used in everyday conversation — found mainly in art supply catalogues, paint labels, and historical dye descriptions.

Common Mistakes

She bought lake paint' (unclear which colour).
She bought crimson lake paint.
The colour name must come before 'lake' to specify which pigment is meant.

lake — verb

Word family

  • lakeside
    nounB1
  • lakefront
    nounB1
  • lakefront
    adjectiveB1
  • lacustrine
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A lake is a large body of water surrounded by land, bigger than a pond but smaller than a sea or ocean. A pond is smaller, often shallow enough for sunlight to reach the bottom, and may be man-made or natural. A reservoir is an artificial lake created by damming a river, used mainly to store drinking water or for irrigation. A lagoon is a shallow body of saltwater separated from the open sea by sandbars, coral reefs, or islands. A sea is vastly larger, connected to the ocean, and consists of saltwater. For example, Lake Geneva is a natural lake, while the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in California was created by a dam. The Venetian Lagoon is separated from the Adriatic Sea by barrier islands.

pond ↗reservoir ↗lagoon ↗sea ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • lake water
  • lake shore
  • lake bed
  • lake trout
  • lake view

Phrases

  • a lake of [liquid]
  • the edge of the lake
  • the surface of the lake

Prepositions

  • by the lake
  • on the lake
  • in the lake
  • across the lake
  • around the lake

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

The word 'lake' comes from two different historical roots that converged into the same modern English spelling. The geographic meaning ('large body of water') traces back to Old English lacu ('stream, pool'), from Proto-Germanic *lakō, and ultimately from the Indo-European root *leg- ('to leak, drain'). The pigment meaning ('colour made by fixing dye onto a base') comes from French laque through Arabic lakk, from Persian lak, from Sanskrit lakṣā, referring to the lac insect whose resin was used to make the dye. These two word histories are unrelated — the geographic 'lake' is Germanic in origin, while the pigment 'lake' comes from an Asian trade word via Arabic and French.