Avalanche Definition
ăvə-lănch
avalanched, avalanches, avalanching
noun
avalanches
A fall or slide of a large mass of material, especially of snow, down a mountainside.
American Heritage
A mass of loosened snow, earth, rocks, etc. suddenly and swiftly sliding down a mountain, often growing as it descends.
Webster's New World
A massive or overwhelming amount; a flood.
Received an avalanche of mail.
American Heritage
Any large, overwhelming quantity that comes suddenly.
An avalanche of mail, of blows, etc.
Webster's New World
verb
avalanched, avalanches, avalanching
To fall or slide in a massive or overwhelming amount.
American Heritage
To come down (on) like an avalanche.
Webster's New World
To overwhelm; inundate.
American Heritage
(intransitive) To descend like an avalanche.
Wiktionary
To come down upon; to overwhelm.
The shelf broke and the boxes avalanched the workers.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
- roll down
Origin of Avalanche
-
From French, from Franco-Provençal (Savoy) avalançhe, blend of aval ‘downhill’ and standard lavençhe, from Vulgar Latin *labanka (cf. Occitan lavanca, Italian valanga), alteration of Late Latin labina ‘landslide’ (cf. Franco-Provençal (Dauphiné) lavino, Romansch lavina), from Latin labi ‘to slip, slide’.
From Wiktionary
French Provençal lavanca ravine perhaps ultimately from Latin lābī to slip
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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