# Pond versus Lake **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394 "2003-08-15T15:12:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/1 "2003-08-15T15:12:11Z")
I’m curious if there is a geological distinction between a pond and a lake or if it’s merely a naming issue. I’ve recently canoed on two “ponds” that are larger than some “lakes” that I’ve been on. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/2 "2003-08-15T15:24:33Z")
Check this out from [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) > [@](#): > > pond n. > > A still body of water smaller than a lake. > [@](#): > > lake1 n. > > 1. A scenic pond My guess that a lake is fed by a river and a pond is fed by a creek or stream. What? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/3 "2003-08-15T15:36:27Z")
Well, for example, bow lakes aren’t fed by anything, because if they were, they wouldn’t be bow lakes. A bow lake is a curve of a river broken off…not fed by anything, yet it is a lake. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/4 "2003-08-15T15:47:53Z")
Our local park district distinguishes between ponds and lakes by describing a lake as a body of water that is generally too deep to support surface-blooming plants. (Obviously excluding from consideration those shallow sections near shore that have reeds and lily pads–I would guess they are talking about only the major central section.) ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/5 "2003-08-15T15:51:37Z")
_gazes out at Lake Superior_ They’re _all_ ponds, 'xept that one. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/6 "2003-08-15T16:03:50Z")
Some ponds are fed only by rainwater, I think. I couldn’t believe the first time that I saw Walden Pond. It looked like a lake to me! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/7 "2003-08-15T16:50:23Z")
I always thought that ponds are man made and lakes are natural formations, but ICBW. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/8 "2003-08-15T17:08:39Z")
Many lakes (in fact, almost all of the thousand or so in Texas) are man made. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/9 "2003-08-15T17:18:48Z")
If it freezes and kids can skate on it and play hockey on it, then dammit, it’s always a pond at that point…albeit a frozen one. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/10 "2003-08-15T17:48:08Z")
So you’d call Lake Michigan a pond?? I think the distintion is arbitrary ponds are generally smaller than lakes, but thats about it. (Same think goes for creeks vs. rivers) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/11 "2003-08-15T18:25:28Z")
It’s a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/12 "2003-08-16T01:17:38Z")
Joke or not, anything smaller than Lake St. Clair is a pond, and even Lake St. Clair’s status is debatable. It’s shallow, piss warm, mucky, and full of seaweed. Sounds an aweful lot like a pond to me. Even the inland “lakes” all seem like icky, nasty ponds. I guess it’s not hard to tell I grew up on Lake Huron. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/13 "2003-08-16T04:00:04Z")
In common usage, there’s not much real difference. Most people regard a pond merely as a small lake. But I’ve heard from other sources that, strictly speaking, a pond is a body of water that has no river or stream carrying water out of it, while a lake does HAVE such an outlet. That’s why a pond typically has a much shorter life. Without a stream or river to carry out silt, a pond is eventually filled up by silt and sediment, and no longer holds water. Since a lake has a river/stream to drain of silt and sediment, it remains filled with water much longer. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/14 "2003-08-16T04:13:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*But I’ve heard from other sources that, strictly speaking, a pond is a body of water that has no river or stream carrying water out of it, while a lake does HAVE such an outlet. That’s why a pond typically has a much shorter life. Without a stream or river to carry out silt, a pond is eventually filled up by silt and sediment, and no longer holds water. > > Since a lake has a river/stream to drain of silt and sediment, it remains filled with water much longer. \*\* So, is that body of water near Jerusalem called the Dead Pond? 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pond-versus-lake/195394/15 "2003-08-16T05:04:51Z")
Pond vs. Lake? Is the lake prepared?