LAKE (4)

Lake, n. [[AS. lac, L. lacus; akin to AS. lagu lake, sea, Icel. lögr; OIr. loch; cf. Gr. λάκκοσ pond, tank. Cf. Loch, Lough.]] A large body of water contained in a depression of the earth's surface, and supplied from the drainage of a more or less extended area. ☞ Lakes are for the most part of fresh water; the salt lakes, like the Great Salt Lake of Utah, have usually no outlet to the ocean. Lake dwellers (Ethnol.), people of a prehistoric race, or races, which inhabited different parts of Europe. Their dwellings were built on piles in lakes, a short distance from the shore. Their relics are common in the lakes of Switzerland. — Lake dwellings (Archæol.), dwellings built over a lake, sometimes on piles, and sometimes on rude foundations kept in place by piles; specifically, such dwellings of prehistoric times. Lake dwellings are still used by many savage tribes. Called also lacustrine dwellings. See Crannog. — Lake fly (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of dipterous flies of the genus Chironomus. In form they resemble mosquitoes, but they do not bite. The larvæ live in lakes. — Lake herring (Zoöl.), the cisco (Coregonus Artedii). — Lake poets, Lake school, a collective name originally applied in contempt, but now in honor, to Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth, who lived in the lake country of Cumberland, England, Lamb and a few others were classed with these by hostile critics. Called also lakers and lakists. — Lake sturgeon (Zoöl.), a sturgeon (Acipenser rubicundus), of moderate size, found in the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It is used as food. — Lake trout (Zoöl.), any one of several species of trout and salmon; in Europe, esp. Salmo fario; in the United States, esp. Salvelinus namaycush of the Great Lakes, and of various lakes in New York, Eastern Maine, and Canada. A large variety of brook trout (S. fontinalis), inhabiting many lakes in New England, is also called lake trout. See Namaycush. — Lake whitefish. (Zoöl.) See Whitefish. — Lake whiting (Zoöl.), an American whitefish (Coregonus Labradoricus), found in many lakes in the Northern United States and Canada. It is more slender than the common whitefish.