avalanche

American  

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

noun

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)

avalanched, avalanching

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

verb (used with object)

avalanched, avalanching

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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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

With an avalanche of media attention and critical praise, its No. 1 counterpart in nonfiction, “London Falling,” by Patrick Radden Keefe, sold 13,468 copies.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

Recent headlines about AI-related job cuts at Meta Platforms and Cisco Systems aren’t the avalanche.

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

April is always an avalanche, but this year the early parts of the fall and spring season were deserts.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026

“It’s an avalanche of earnings power,” says Jeff Buchbinder, chief equity strategist at LPL Financial.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

But when Ivan's stone hit it, it bellowed out a sound like an avalanche of rocks and snow flattening a mountain forest.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

Related Words

• barrage
• deluge
• flood
• landslide
• torrent