landslide
Americannoun
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landslides
plural
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the downward falling or sliding of a mass of soil, detritus, or rock on or from a steep slope.
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the mass itself.
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an election in which a particular victorious candidate or party receives an overwhelming mass or majority of votes.
the 1936 landslide for Roosevelt.
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any overwhelming victory.
She won the contest by a landslide.
verb (used without object)
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to come down in or as in a landslide.
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to win an election by an overwhelming majority.
noun
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Also called: landslip.
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the sliding of a large mass of rock material, soil, etc, down the side of a mountain or cliff
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the material dislodged in this way
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an overwhelming electoral victory
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( as modifier )
a landslide win
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The rapid downward sliding of a mass of earth and rock. Landslides usually move over a confined area. Many kinds of events can trigger a landslide, such as the oversteepening of slopes by erosion associated with rivers, glaciers, or ocean waves; heavy snowmelt which saturates soil and rock; or earthquakes that lead to the failure of weak slopes.
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The mass of soil and rock that moves in this way.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of landslide
Explanation
When dirt and rock from a mountainside are sliding down, call it a landslide. Another kind of landslide takes place when one candidate soundly defeats another in an election. With either type of landslide, it's probably safest to stay out of the way! The political meaning of landslide is commonly used, but it's not the word's original definition. A geographical landslide occurs when a huge amount of earth slides down a slope or mountain, usually displacing rocks and vegetation and often houses and buildings as well. Landslides are caused by erosion, heavy rain, and earthquakes, among other events, and they're disruptive enough to give rise to the figurative meaning.
Vocabulary lists containing landslide
Physical Geography - Introductory
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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Physical Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Bills made it through the first two weeks without committing a turnover, then survived a landslide Sunday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
The resulting landslide and tsunami caused eight deaths, according to a reconstruction published in Natural Hazards.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
A landslide struck a car park on Japan's Mount Fuji, with the final day of the volcano's summer climbing season on Thursday marred by downpours and dense mist.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
Preliminary calculations based on the seismic signal the landslide produced indicate that the ice-and-rock avalanche in Nepal was likely 10 times the volume of the one in Blatten, said Schwanghart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
They circled Mount St. Helens and watched as a small landslide opened the crater a bit wider.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
The loss of glacier ice can also destabilise mountain slopes and increase the risk of landslides in some places - which can lead to flash flooding in extreme cases, as seen in Nepal in August.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Much of Nepal's hydropower infrastructure lies along steep river valleys fed by glaciers -- terrain exposed to floods, landslides and cascading geological hazards.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
Last year, the line was closed for a month for repairs designed to protect against landslides.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
The level three warnings, for heavy rain, and the level four warnings, for landslides have now been either downgraded or lifted by the Japan Meteorological Agency in most areas.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
The pattern of hummocks in the debris fields around Mount St. Helens after the eruption helped scientists to recognize the signs of landslides at other volcanoes.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
“Even a moderate earthquake could cause a local-source tsunami from submarine landsliding in Monterey Bay,” public documents say.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2025
“The weaker alluvial sediments can amplify shaking, and mountains are vulnerable to landsliding, including along the roads that lead to mountain villages.”
From National Geographic ● Sep. 11, 2023
"When the glaciers melted the sediment was no longer supported by the ice margins, so in places it can be susceptible to landsliding."
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2020
Says Norge President Judson S. Sayre: "The way orders are landsliding, we could be sold out for the year by October 15."
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
