mudslide
Britishnoun
Explanation
When dirt, rocks, and water flow down the side of a mountain, it's called a mudslide. Heavy rain and melting snow can both cause mudslides. Another name for a mudslide is a debris flow. It's a fast-moving type of landslide that's made at least partly of mud, which gives the phenomenon its name. Mudslides often happen after natural disasters (like earthquakes), and hillsides that have been burned by wildfires or developed by people are more vulnerable. The effects of mudslides include impassable roads, broken pipes and cables that cause water and power outages, and even homes buried under mud.
Vocabulary lists containing mudslide
Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science - High School
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Earth Science - Introductory
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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.
Freeport-McMoRan reduced its full-year sales-volume outlook and reported lower gold and copper production due to a fatal mudslide at an Indonesian mine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
"When I walked out, there was a caravan in the pool, and there's a mudslide that missed me by about 30 feet," Siluch said.
From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026
The failure of the mine-waste dam and resulting mudslide near the town of Mariana killed 19 people and polluted more than 400 miles of rivers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
Her home in Kween village was destroyed in the mudslide and she is now staying with a neighbour.
From BBC • Nov. 3, 2025
A mudslide swept down the mountain, picking up trees and logs and trucks and houses and bridges.
From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis
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.
