Hypertext Webster Gateway: "lava"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Lava \La"va\, n. [It. lava lava, orig. in Naples, a torrent of
rain overflowing the streets, fr. It. & L. lavare to wash.
See {Lave}.]
The melted rock ejected by a volcano from its top or fissured
sides. It flows out in streams sometimes miles in length. It
also issues from fissures in the earth's surface, and forms
beds covering many square miles, as in the Northwestern
United States.
Note: Lavas are classed, according to their structure, as
scoriaceous or cellular, glassy, stony, etc., and
according to the material of which they consist, as
doleritic, trachytic, etc.
{Lava millstone}, a hard and coarse basaltic millstone from
the neighborhood of the Rhine.
{Lava ware}, a kind of cheap pottery made of iron slag cast
into tiles, urns, table tops, etc., resembling lava in
appearance.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
lava
n : rock that in its molten form (as magma) issues from
volcanos; lava is what magma is called when it reaches
the surface
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