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Definition of "lava" [la•va]

  • Molten rock that reaches the earth's surface through a volcano or fissure. (noun)
  • The rock formed by the cooling and solidifying of molten rock. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "lava" in a sentence
  • "“So I have to get to the bathroom without stepping on the floor, because it is covered in lava and alligators?”"
  • "I stood and watched the most brilliant display of aurora I had ever seen, shooting over the mountain tops in the east like lava from a volcano, writhing overhead to the opposite horizon, snaking into crowns and shooting towards the ground like harpoons of light."
  • "Scientists are also baffled by the fact that this particular type of basaltic lava is only known to exist in Iceland."