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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Volcanic rocks

Volcanic \Vol*can"ic\, a. [Cf. F. volcanique, It. vulcanico.]

  1. Of or pertaining to a volcano or volcanoes; as, volcanic heat.

  2. Produced by a volcano, or, more generally, by igneous agencies; as, volcanic tufa.

  3. Changed or affected by the heat of a volcano.

    Volcanic bomb, a mass ejected from a volcano, often of molten lava having a rounded form.

    Volcanic cone, a hill, conical in form, built up of cinders, tufa, or lava, during volcanic eruptions.

    Volcanic foci, the subterranean centers of volcanic action; the points beneath volcanoes where the causes producing volcanic phenomena are most active.

    Volcanic glass, the vitreous form of lava, produced by sudden cooling; obsidian. See Obsidian.

    Volcanic mud, fetid, sulphurous mud discharged by a volcano.

    Volcanic rocks, rocks which have been produced from the discharges of volcanic matter, as the various kinds of basalt, trachyte, scoria, obsidian, etc., whether compact, scoriaceous, or vitreous.

Usage examples of "volcanic rocks".

When he kicked away the surface growth of lichen and dried scrub grass, he found that the soil was a rich reddish color that his Grandfather Whipple had once explained as the result of the gradual breaking down of volcanic rocks.

It rose on a plain in the form of a terrace, buttressed on volcanic rocks three hundred feet high.

I'm going to get in, since the only thing I would like less than climbing over volcanic rocks in pitch darkness is climbing over them when they're hot enough to fry eggs.

Jessica stood at the rim and watched them until they were out of sight among the volcanic rocks.

Between those two extremes fell Polynesia's oceanic volcanic islands, which lacked granite, flint, and other continental rocks but did at least have volcanic rocks, which Polynesians worked into ground or polished stone adzes used to clear land for farming.

The soaring pile of black volcanic rocks created a sixteen-story-high arcing curtain, whose roadway on top, from one end of the dam to the other, was a mile and a half long.

They had no way of knowing that they were attacking volcanic rocks.

He lay on the black volcanic rocks overlooking the valley of Azatlan.

Instead, he turned and walked soundlessly through the crumbling volcanic rocks.