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 said last month that full production would return more slowly than expected after a fatal mudslide last September.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 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 current price rally gained momentum in September after a deadly mudslide at Freeport-McMoRan’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia shut down the world’s second-largest copper mine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 5, 2026
Near Potato Canyon Road in Oak Glen, another mudslide surrounded nearby homes in mud.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025
The lavanderia is undergoing restoration to remove a thick layer of dirt that covers its northern end, brought about by some long-ago mudslide.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
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.
