kipuka

See also: kīpuka

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Hawaiian kīpuka.

Noun

kipuka (plural kipukas or kipuka)

  1. (geology) A zone of unharmed land completely surrounded by lava flows.
    • 2019, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Jonathan Cape, page 171:
      There’s a word Trevor once told me about, one he learned from Buford, who served in the navy in Hawaii during the Korean War: kipuka. The piece of land that’s spared after a lava flow runs down the slope of a hill—an island formed from what survives the smallest apocalypse.

Translations

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