cascade
a waterfall descending over a steep, rocky surface.
a series of shallow or steplike waterfalls, either natural or artificial.
anything that resembles a waterfall, especially in seeming to flow or fall in abundance: a cascade of roses covering the wall.
(in a drain or sewer) a chain of steps for dissipating the momentum of falling water in a steep place in order to maintain a steady rate of flow.
an arrangement of a lightweight fabric in folds falling one over another in random or zigzag fashion.
a type of firework resembling a waterfall in effect.
Chemistry. a series of vessels, from each of which a fluid successively overflows to the next, thus presenting a large absorbing surface, as to a gas.
Electricity. an arrangement of component devices, as electrolytic cells, each of which feeds into the next in succession.
Biochemistry. a series of reactions catalyzed by enzymes that are activated sequentially by successive products of the reactions, resulting in an amplification of the initial response.
to fall in or like a cascade.
to cause to fall in a cascade.
Electricity. to arrange (components) in a cascade.
Origin of cascade
1Other words from cascade
- cas·cad·er, noun
- un·cas·cad·ed, adjective
- un·cas·cad·ing, adjective
Words Nearby cascade
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cascade in a sentence
Although there certainly is some signal in the probabilities of safe states, in simulations such as these, including them can cause enormous cascades in which a state like Kansas goes blue and so does the rest of America.
The Forecast: The Methodology Behind Our 2020 Election Model | Daniel Malloy | September 10, 2020 | OzySo the phytoplankton that can feed a cascade of ocean life don’t bloom here.
Some deep-seafloor microbes still alive after 100 million years! | Carolyn Gramling | September 1, 2020 | Science News For StudentsFailure to fight the virus and fill the gap in private spending with public dollars will mean less demand in the economy, starting a cascade of more lay-offs and business failures in the classic vicious cycle of recession.
Republicans fret over coronavirus lawsuits amid economic collapse | Tim Fernholz | July 22, 2020 | QuartzThe WNBA is set to begin its season on July 25, while the NBA — the league whose abrupt shutdown set off a cascade of matching shutdowns in other sports — will restart its own season on July 30 at Walt Disney World.
Who’s Who In The NBA Bubble: The Teams Just Along For The Ride | Jared Dubin | July 20, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightThat joint statement led to a cascade of school district closures that eventually led nearly every school in the state to close.
San Diego Unified Decision Underscores Districts’ Wildly Different Reopening Plans | Will Huntsberry | July 13, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
I remember practicing that lick [from the solo “Round Midnight” recording] years ago, learning how to do that cascade effect.
With her cascade of red, twirling hair and pale, fine-boned face.
Murdoch on the Rocks: How a Lone Reporter Revealed the Mogul's Tabloid Terror Machine | Clive Irving | August 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe cascade of same-sex marriage rulings is now a torrent, each more quotable and image-ready than the last.
Pennsylvania. Oregon. Is Gay Marriage Unstoppable? | Jay Michaelson | May 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTExpect aurora borealis in the long foray but no cascade of light.
How Seamus Heaney Influenced Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey | Natasha Trethewey | September 3, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTSander and Taylor say that this is exactly what mismatch theory would predict, because preferences cascade.
Affirmative Action: Who Does it Help, Who Does it Hurt? | Megan McArdle | June 24, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAs the bright glow of a little cascade of sparks pierced the darkness, a voice in our rear called sharply: "Hands up!"
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairShe was a slim, girlish-looking woman, with a cascade of long dark hair falling over her shoulders.
A Butterfly on the Wheel | Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger GullOne must work or go, and when a cascade of gravel poured off the cars as the plow moved along he pulled himself together.
The Girl From Keller's | Harold BindlossTo accompany me to the cascade—there to invoke the Siren, and ask if she may be seen.
The Tiger Hunter | Mayne ReidAccident, not design, had conducted him to the bottom of the cascade.
The Tiger Hunter | Mayne Reid
British Dictionary definitions for cascade
/ (kæsˈkeɪd) /
a waterfall or series of waterfalls over rocks
something resembling this, such as folds of lace
a consecutive sequence of chemical or physical processes
(as modifier): cascade liquefaction
a series of stages in the processing chain of an electrical signal where each operates the next in turn
(as modifier): a cascade amplifier
the cumulative process responsible for the formation of an electrical discharge, cosmic-ray shower, or Geiger counter avalanche in a gas
the sequence of spontaneous decays by an excited atom or ion
(intr) to flow or fall in or like a cascade
Origin of cascade
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for cascade
[ kăs-kād′ ]
A series of chemical or physiological processes that occur in successive stages, each of which is dependent on the preceding one, to produce a culminating effect. The steps involved in the clotting of blood occur as a cascade.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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