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Definition of "pahoehoe" [pa•ho•e•ho•e]

  • Lava with a smooth ropy surface. (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 "pahoehoe" in a sentence
  • "From this grove we travelled as before in single file over an immense expanse of lava of the kind called pahoehoe, or satin rock, to distinguish it from the a-a, or jagged, rugged, impassable rock."
  • "We learned there are many types of lava: pahoehoe and aa both terms being Hawaiian, naturally, and referring to highly sculpted lava and to lava with jagged clinker on the top you shout "ah ah!" as you walk along the clinker in bare feet."
  • "We had a delicious gallop over the sands to the Waiakea river, which we crossed, and came upon one of the vast lava-flows of ages since, over which we had to ride carefully, as the pahoehoe lies in rivers, coils, tortuosities, and holes partially concealed by a luxuriant growth of ferns and convolvuli."
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