Volcanoes
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vol·ca·no
(vŏl-kā′nō)n. pl. vol·ca·noes or vol·ca·nos
1.
a. An opening in the earth's crust from which lava, ash, and hot gases flow or are ejected during an eruption.
b. A similar opening on the surface of another celestial object.
2. A usually cone-shaped mountain formed from the materials issuing from such an opening.
[Italian, from Spanish volcán or Portuguese volcão, both probably from Latin volcānus, vulcānus, fire, flames, from Volcānus, Vulcan.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Volcanoes
the phenomena connected with volcanoes and volcanic activity. Also vulcanism. — volcanist, n.
Geology. the scientific study of volcanoes and volcanic phenomena. Also vulcanology. — volcanologist, n. — volcanologic, volcanological, adj.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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