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

Example Sentences

Other novels have come before — Joyce Carol Oates’ memorable if wildly fictionalized “Blonde,” for example — not to mention the avalanche of nonfiction that has been written since Marilyn burst onto the scene.

From Los Angeles Times

Five off-piste skiers have died in two avalanches in the Austria's Alps following heavy snowfall in the region.

From BBC

‘If anything has surprised Mr. Rubin,” the New York Times wrote less than a year into the Clinton administration, “it is the avalanche of criticism, especially from the business community.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Two popular repayment strategies include the avalanche method, paying the highest-interest debts first, then tackling smaller balances, and the snowball method, paying the smallest debts first to build momentum, then moving to larger balances.

From MarketWatch

A British man has died in an avalanche in the French Alps.

From BBC

Related Words

• barrage
• deluge
• flood
• landslide
• torrent