Erupt

How it is used

Used without an object for volcanoes ('the volcano erupted in 1991') and with an object for material ('it erupted ash and lava'). The noun is eruption: an explosive eruption, an eruption column. It is also used figuratively: violence erupted.

Example sentences

1. The volcano last erupted about 400 years ago.

2. If the volcano erupts again, the ash could close the airport.

Common collocations

• erupt violently
• last erupted
• begin to erupt
• erupt lava
• an explosive eruption

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.
• lavaMolten rock that has come out of a volcano onto the Earth's surface, and also the solid rock that forms when it cools.
• 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.
• volcanic ashTiny fragments of rock, minerals and volcanic glass, less than 2 mm across, blasted into the air by explosive eruptions.

More terms: Volcanoes

• dormant
• caldera
• pyroclastic flow
• hotspot