LAVA

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does lava mean? 

• LAVA (noun)
  The noun LAVA has 1 sense:

1. rock that in its molten form (as magma) issues from volcanos; lava is what magma is called when it reaches the surface

  Familiarity information: LAVA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LAVA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rock that in its molten form (as magma) issues from volcanos; lava is what magma is called when it reaches the surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("lava" is a kind of...):

volcanic rock (extrusive igneous rock solidified near or on the surface of the Earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lava"):

aa (a dry form of lava resembling clinkers)

pahoehoe (freely flowing lava)

pillow lava (lava that hardened in rounded shapes suggestive of pillows; believed to result from underwater eruptions)

 Context examples 

The ratio of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide when the lava lake was in its most energetic state was six times higher than during the most stable phase.

(Size matters: if you are a bubble of volcanic gas, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

This seething ocean of lava could feed steam into the atmosphere long after the star has calmed to its current, steady glow, replenishing the planet with water.

(Super-Earth in Habitable Zone, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The two prevailing theories include eruptions, which spread lava flows over a large area, or overturning waves of lava.

(Massive Lava Waves Detected on Solar System’s Most Volcanically Active Object, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The researchers were also able to rule out that the features were actually on the surface of Titan in the form of frozen methane rain or icy lavas.

(Dust Storms on Titan Spotted for the First Time, NASA)

The area has lava flows that post-date the disappearance of the sea.

(Mars Study Yields Clues to Possible Cradle of Life, NASA)

Although the lava itself was low in nitrates, it heated the deeper layers of nutrient-rich water.

(Scientists report skyrocketing phyotplankton population in aftermath of Kīlauea eruption, Wikinews)

Twice as big as Earth, the super-Earth 55 Cancri e was thought to have lava flows on its surface.

(Lava or Not, Exoplanet 55 Cancri e Likely to have Atmosphere, NASA)

Located in the Peruvian Andes, Ubinas has shown signs of an impending eruption since the mid-2013, highlighted by the appearance of a fresh lava dome in March 2014.

(Fresh lava arrives at Ubinas volcano, NASA)

Three hours after I found the trail I was there, in a little mountain valley, a pocket in the midst of lava peaks.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Close to the water's edge there was a huge isolated block of lava.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)