Great Lakes /ɡɹeɪt.leɪks/ noun[usually plural]1 •A group of five lakes on the United States–Canada border, consisting of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron (Lake Michigan–Huron), Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.A ship called the Vandalia out of Oswego is widely credited as the first propeller-driven steamship on the Great Lakes in 1841. — 2015 formsGreat Lake