lakes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of lake.

   Glacial activity carved out most of the region's lakes thousands of years ago.

   The lakes shrink during long droughts and swell again with the spring rains.

   Note

   A regular plural whose spelling covers more than bodies of water. It can also mean large amounts of liquid. In dialect it means small streams, channels or drains, or games and fun. In obsolete use it meant pits, ditches, or offerings. The same spelling is also the present-tense verb. After the or a number you have the noun; after a singular subject, the verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of lake.

   In this protocol the student lakes the red cells with repeated freeze-thaw cycles, so that their hemoglobin spills out into the solution.

   Adding distilled water lakes the cells, turning the suspension clear and deep red.

   Note

   In a laboratory this is a working verb: a technician lakes a blood sample, freezing and thawing it until the cells burst. It takes the sample or suspension as its direct object. The same form also serves a verb meaning to dye something lake-red. Northern English dialect has a verb meaning to leap or play, and an obsolete one meant to present an offering. For telling it apart from its twin spelling, see the plural noun.

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