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Meaning & use

lava

noun·Everydaytechnical

Last updated

UK/ˈlɑːvə/
US/ˈlɑːvə/

Meanings

  1. noununcountabletechnical

    Hot, liquid rock that comes out of a volcano and flows over the land.

    Grammar: Not used with an or a plural in the usual sense: the lava flowed downhill.

    Patterns

    • a flow of lava
    • lava from something

    Red lava poured down the side of the mountain and set the forest alight.

    The village was buried when lava from the eruption reached the valley.

    Tourists watched the glowing lava from a safe distance.

  2. noununcountabletechnical

    The solid rock that forms when this molten rock cools and hardens.

    Grammar: Often refers to the black rock in a landscape: fields of lava.

    Patterns

    • cooled lava
    • a field of lava

    The path crosses an old field of black lava.

    Houses on the island are built from blocks of lava.

    The cooled lava made a hard, rough surface that was difficult to walk on.

Common combinations

flowing lava
Flowing lava forced residents to leave the town.
molten lava
Molten lava reaches temperatures above a thousand degrees.
lava flow
The lava flow stopped just short of the road.
lava field
Hikers crossed a wide lava field to reach the crater.
lava lamp
A lava lamp glowed in the corner of his room.
cooled lava
Cooled lava forms new land along the coast.

Synonyms and how they differ

magma
Magma is the molten rock still underground, while lava is the same material once it reaches the surface.
molten rock
Molten rock is a plain description that can be used anywhere, but lava names it specifically when it erupts.

Word family

volcano noun
a mountain with an opening through which lava and ash can erupt
volcanic adjective
relating to or produced by a volcano
lava lamp noun
a decorative lamp with blobs of wax that rise and fall

Commonly confused: lava or magma? lava or lavatory?

lava vs magma

Magma is still under the ground, while lava is what we call it after it has erupted onto the surface.

lava vs lavatory

Lavatory is a toilet and has no connection with lava, though it also comes from a word for washing.

Practice

When molten rock is still underground it is called magma, but after it erupts from a volcano it is called ____.

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