VOLCANIC ERUPTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does volcanic eruption mean? 

• VOLCANIC ERUPTION (noun)
  The noun VOLCANIC ERUPTION has 1 sense:

1. the sudden occurrence of a violent discharge of steam and volcanic material

  Familiarity information: VOLCANIC ERUPTION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VOLCANIC ERUPTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The sudden occurrence of a violent discharge of steam and volcanic material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

eruption; volcanic eruption

Hypernyms ("volcanic eruption" is a kind of...):

discharge (the sudden giving off of energy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "volcanic eruption"):

Plinian eruption (a volcanic eruption in which a stream of gas and ash is violently ejected to a height of several miles)

 Context examples 

A similar volcanic eruption in Alaska in 2008 was found to be associated with an increase in the local salmon population.

(Scientists report skyrocketing phyotplankton population in aftermath of Kīlauea eruption, Wikinews)

The unusual spectacle of her busy mother rocking comfortably and reading early in the morning made Jo feel as if some unnatural phenomenon had occurred, for an eclipse, an earthquake, or a volcanic eruption would hardly have seemed stranger.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The eruption of the Eldgjá in the tenth century is known as a lava flood: a rare type of prolonged volcanic eruption in which huge flows of lava engulf the landscape, accompanied by a haze of sulphurous gases.

(Volcanic eruption influenced Iceland’s conversion to Christianity, University of Cambridge)

A team of scientists and medieval historians, led by the University of Cambridge, has used information contained within ice cores and tree rings to accurately date a massive volcanic eruption, which took place soon after the island was first settled.

(Volcanic eruption influenced Iceland’s conversion to Christianity, University of Cambridge)

The poem’s interpretation as a prophecy of the end of the pagan gods and their replacement by the one, singular god, suggests that memories of this terrible volcanic eruption were purposefully provoked to stimulate the Christianisation of Iceland.

(Volcanic eruption influenced Iceland’s conversion to Christianity, University of Cambridge)