The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lake \Lake\, n. [AS. lac, L. lacus; akin to AS. lagu lake, sea, Icel. l["o]gr; OIr. loch; cf. Gr. la`kkos 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.
Note: 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 (Arch[ae]ol.), 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 (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of dipterous flies of the genus Chironomus. In form they resemble mosquitoes, but they do not bite. The larv[ae] live in lakes.
Lake herring (Zo["o]l.), 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 (Zo["o]l.), a sturgeon ( Acipenser rubicundus), of moderate size, found in the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It is used as food.
Lake trout (Zo["o]l.), 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 ( Salvelinus fontinalis), inhabiting many lakes in New England, is also called lake trout. See Namaycush.
Lake whitefish. (Zo["o]l.) See Whitefish.
Lake whiting (Zo["o]l.), an American whitefish ( Coregonus Labradoricus), found in many lakes in the Northern United States and Canada. It is more slender than the common whitefish.
Sturgeon \Stur"geon\, n. [F. esturgeon, LL. sturio, sturgio, OHG. sturjo, G. st["o]r; akin to AS. styria, styriga.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of large cartilaginous ganoid fishes belonging to Acipenser and allied genera of the family Acipenserid[ae]. They run up rivers to spawn, and are common on the coasts and in the large rivers and lakes of North America, Europe, and Asia. Caviar is prepared from the roe, and isinglass from the air bladder.
Note: The common North American species are Acipenser sturio of the Atlantic coast region, Acipenser transmontanus of the Pacific coast, and Acipenser rubicundus of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. In Europe, the common species is Acipenser sturio, and other well-known species are the sterlet and the huso. The sturgeons are included in the order Chondrostei. Their body is partially covered by five rows of large, carinated, bony plates, of which one row runs along the back. The tail is heterocercal. The toothless and protrusile mouth is beneath the head, and has four barbels in front.
Shovel-nosed sturgeon. (Zo["o]l.) See Shovelnose (d) .