avalanche

American  

[av-uh-lanch, -lahnch] / ˈæv əˌlæntʃ, -ˌlɑntʃ /

noun

• avalanches
  plural

1. a large mass of snow, ice, etc., detached from a mountain slope and sliding or falling suddenly downward.

2. anything like an avalanche in suddenness and overwhelming quantity.

   an avalanche of misfortunes; an avalanche of fan mail.

3. Also called Townsend avalanche.  Physics, Chemistry. a cumulative ionization process in which the ions and electrons of one generation undergo collisions that produce a greater number of ions and electrons in succeeding generations.

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verb (used without object)

• avalanches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• avalanched,
  past participle,  past
• avalanching
  present participle

1. to come down in, or like, an avalanche.

verb (used with object)

• avalanches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• avalanched,
  past participle,  past
• avalanching
  present participle

1. to overwhelm with an extremely large amount of anything; swamp.

avalanche British  

/ ˈævəˌlɑːntʃ /

noun

1. 1. a fall of large masses of snow and ice down a mountain

   2. a fall of rocks, sand, etc

2. a sudden or overwhelming appearance of a large quantity of things

   an avalanche of letters

3. physics a group of ions or electrons produced by a single ion or electron as a result of a collision with some other form of matter

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verb

1. to come down overwhelmingly (upon)

avalanche Scientific  

/ ăv′ə-lănch′ /

1. The sudden fall or slide of a large mass of material down the side of a mountain. Avalanches may contain snow, ice, rock, soil, or a mixture of these materials. Avalanches can be triggered by changes in temperature, by sound vibrations, or by vibrations in the earth itself.

2. A process resulting in the production of large numbers of ionized particles, in which electrons or ions collide with molecules, with each collision itself producing an additional electron or ion that in turn collides with other molecules. Avalanches are what generate the pulses of electric current that are registered by Geiger counters.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• avalanches
  plural

Participles

• avalanching
  present
• avalanched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• avalanche
  simple
• avalanches
  simple
• have avalanched
  perfect
• has avalanched
  perfect
• am avalanching
  progressive
• are avalanching
  progressive
• is avalanching
  progressive
• have been avalanching
  perfect progressive
• has been avalanching
  perfect progressive

Past

• avalanched
  simple
• had avalanched
  perfect
• was avalanching
  progressive
• were avalanching
  progressive
• had been avalanching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will avalanche
  simple
• will have avalanched
  perfect
• will be avalanching
  progressive
• will have been avalanching
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of avalanche

1755–65; < French < dial. (Savoy) avalantse, alteration (by association with avaler to descend rapidly) of laventse < pre-Latin (perhaps Ligurian) *lavanca, or reshaping of Late Latin labīna landslide (derivative of Latin labī to slide) with a pre-Latin suffix -anca

Explanation

Look out below! An avalanche is a whole lot of falling snow and ice. Also, life can feel like an avalanche when things get hectic. Avalanche may be a fun word, but it's not a fun thing. If you were in a real, literal avalanche, then a huge amount of snow, ice, rocks, and mud would be falling off a mountain — potentially on to you. People get killed in avalanches. On the other hand, if every teacher in school gives you homework on the same night, that is "an avalanche of schoolwork." You'll survive it, but it's not much fun at the time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

avalanche avalanches avalanched avalanching

The swift unwind of Situational shows how quickly information can spread across Wall Street when a trader is in trouble—and how fast it can lead to an avalanche of selling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

“If we are a pebble in that avalanche, then I’m happy.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

On that note, a successful trip does not require a photogenic avalanche of produce.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

The avalanche has sparked an outpouring of shock in the mountaineering community, especially in Nepal, and leaders including Britain's Prince William have expressed condolences to the families of the climbers.

From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026

But when Malone called the avalanche forecaster to update him on the earthquakes, there was a different question weighing on the forecaster’s mind.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

These deposits form when underwater avalanches of mud, sand, and debris rush down the seafloor and eventually settle into thick sediment layers.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

Rescue crews insist the risk of avalanches is nevertheless still high.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026

The latest deaths took to 18 the number of dead in avalanches in Austria this winter season.

From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026

It has recorded about 150 avalanches already this season - almost 100 in the last month, and more than three times the number it did for the whole of the previous season.

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026

Dozens of avalanches rumbled down the steep walls above, but our camp was safely beyond their reach.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

James and the Lakers were getting avalanched, a run to undo a 17-point deficit got them to within a point before the Grizzlies smothered them with a barrage of baskets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2023

No wonder Norway avalanched us in the medal count last month.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2018

It added: "Two of the rescue team men avalanched traversing below No 3 Gully Buttress."

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2016

The awareness of the trend has since avalanched.

From Forbes ● Mar. 9, 2011

He was happy to learn this, he said, for the Brooks Range was treacherous in winter; whole mountainsides avalanched, and storms brewed up in mere minutes.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

Unlike ski resorts, which use explosives and other mechanisms to keep inbounds slopes from avalanching during ski days, the backcountry is uncontrolled.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2021

For many artists the avalanching awards and wealth of later life come with an unwelcome diminishing of ideas, but Rauschenberg was still avid for discoveries in his 80s.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 25, 2016

The results came in slowly throughout all the night, and then all at once, with calls avalanching in from key states between 10 and 11 p.m..

From Time ● Nov. 5, 2014

Added weight in the ice-filled catchment basin, caused by new snows or an earthquake avalanching down old ice and snows from the higher slopes forces an impulse through the glacier.

From Time Magazine Archive

And after a lifetime of scholarship he was so laden with erudition that his ideas came avalanching down faster than he could organize them.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• barrage
• deluge
• flood
• landslide
• torrent