volcano
/vɒlˈkeɪnəʊ
/noun (plural volcanoes or volcanos)
1A mountain or hill, typically conical, having a crater or vent through which lava, rock fragments, hot vapour, and gas are or have been erupted from the earth’s crust.Variations in composition within each series reflect differentiation in magma chambers under volcanoes....
- This area had not been affected by the main pyroclastic flows from the volcano.
- This heated layer is the source of lava we see in volcanos, the source of heat that drives hot springs and geysers, and the source of raw material which pushes up the mid-oceanic ridges and forms new ocean floor.
1.1A state or situation which is liable to erupt into anger or violence: Clare had been building up a silent volcano of resentment...
- Instead, you ran rivers of blood in our land, and we blew a volcano of anger in your land.
- When I finally reached the second stage of anger it exploded like a volcano of hate inside me.
- What they did not bargain for was that the war would awaken a volcano of sectarian resentment.
Origin
Early 17th century: from Italian, from Latin Volcanus 'Vulcan'.
In Roman mythology Vulcan was the god of fire, and a metalworker. A conical mountain with erupting lava, rock fragments, hot vapour, or gas must have suggested his forge or smithy, and Italians named such a feature volcano or vulcano after him.