Dormant

How it is used

Part of the series active, dormant and extinct. The limits are not exact, and many volcanologists simply call any volcano that could erupt 'active'. The word is also used for seeds, bacteria and inactive accounts.

Example sentences

1. The volcano has been dormant for more than 1,000 years.

2. A dormant volcano can become active again with little warning.

Common collocations

• dormant volcano
• lie dormant
• remain dormant
• active, dormant or extinct

Related terms

• volcanoAn opening in the Earth's crust where magma, gas and ash come out, and the mountain or hill built around it by repeated eruptions.
• eruptTo send out lava, ash and gas, either in a violent explosion or as a quieter flow of lava. Said of volcanoes, and also of geysers.
• magmaMolten or partly molten rock beneath the Earth's surface, often containing crystals and dissolved gases. It is called lava once it reaches the surface.
• calderaA large, bowl-shaped hollow formed when the ground above a magma chamber collapses after a big eruption has emptied the chamber.

More terms: Volcanoes

• lava
• pyroclastic flow
• hotspot
• volcanic ash