Adjacent Words

Avalanche definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

AVALANCHE,
AVALANGE, n.
A snow-slip; a vast body of snow sliding down a mountain.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a slide of large masses of snow and ice and mud down a mountain
2: a sudden appearance of an overwhelming number of things; "the program brought an avalanche of mail" v
1: gather into a huge mass and roll down a mountain, of snow [syn: avalanche, roll down]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: French, from French dialect (Franco-Provençal) lavantse, avalantse Date: 1771 1. a large mass of snow, ice, earth, rock, or other material in swift motion down a mountainside or over a precipice 2. a sudden great or overwhelming rush or accumulation of something <office workers tied down with an avalanche of paperwork> 3. a cumulative process in which photons or accelerated charge carriers produce additional photons or charge carriers through collisions (as with gas molecules) II. verb (-lanched; -lanching) Date: 1855 intransitive verb to descend in an avalanche transitive verb overwhelm, flood

Britannica Concise

Large mass of rock debris or snow that moves rapidly down a mountain slope, sweeping and grinding everything in its path. Avalanches begin when a mass of material overcomes the frictional resistance of the sloping surface, often after its foundation is loosened by spring rains or is partially melted by a warm, dry wind. Vibrations caused by loud noises, such as gunfire or thunder, can start the mass moving. Some avalanches develop during heavy snowstorms and slide while the snow is still falling, but more often they occur after snow has accumulated at a given site. Avalanche control consists largely of detonating explosives in the upper reaches of avalanche zones, intentionally causing the snow to slide before accumulations become very great.

NOAA Weather Glossary

a large mass of rapidly moving snow down a steep mountain slope.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a mass of snow and ice, tumbling rapidly down a mountain. 2 a sudden appearance or arrival of anything in large quantities (faced with an avalanche of work). --v. 1 intr. descend like an avalanche. 2 tr. carry down like an avalanche. Etymology: F, alt. of dial. lavanche after avaler descend

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Avalanche Av"a*lanche` (?; 277), n. [F. avalanche, fr. avaler to descend, to let down, from aval down, downward; ? (L. ad) + val, L. vallis, valley. See Valley.] 1. A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice. 2. A fall of earth, rocks, etc., similar to that of an avalanche of snow or ice. 3. A sudden, great, or irresistible descent or influx of anything.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(avalanches) 1. An avalanche is a large mass of snow that falls down the side of a mountain. N-COUNT 2. You can refer to a very large quantity of things that all arrive or happen at the same time as an avalanche of them. The newcomer was greeted with an avalanche of publicity. N-SING: usu N of n

Moby Thesaurus

abundance, affluence, ample sufficiency, ampleness, amplitude, blizzard, bonanza, bountifulness, bountiousness, bumper crop, coast, copiousness, crystal, deluge, driven snow, embarras de richesses, enough, extravagance, extravagancy, exuberance, fertility, flake, flood, flow, flurry, foison, full measure, fullness, generosity, generousness, glide, glissade, glissando, granular snow, great abundance, great plenty, gush, igloo, inundation, landslide, landslip, lavishness, liberality, liberalness, lots, luxuriance, mantle of snow, maximum, mogul, money to burn, more than enough, much, myriad, myriads, numerousness, opulence, opulency, outpouring, overabundance, overaccumulation, overbounteousness, overcopiousness, overdose, overflow, overlavishness, overluxuriance, overmeasure, overmuchness, overnumerousness, overplentifulness, overplenty, overpopulation, overprofusion, oversufficiency, oversupply, plenitude, plenteousness, plentifulness, plenty, plethora, prevalence, prodigality, productiveness, profuseness, profusion, quantities, redundancy, repleteness, repletion, rich harvest, rich vein, richness, riot, riotousness, scads, shower, sideslip, skid, slide, slip, slippage, slither, slosh, slush, snow, snow banner, snow bed, snow blanket, snow blast, snow fence, snow flurry, snow roller, snow slush, snow squall, snow wreath, snow-crystal, snowball, snowbank, snowbridge, snowcap, snowdrift, snowfall, snowfield, snowflake, snowland, snowman, snowscape, snowshed, snowslide, snowslip, snowstorm, spate, stream, subsidence, substantiality, substantialness, superabundance, superflux, teemingness, wealth, wet snow