avalanche definition | Dictionary.com

av⋅a⋅lanche

[av-uh-lanch, -lahnch]

noun, verb, -lanched, -lanch⋅ing.

–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.

–verb (used without object)

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

–verb (used with object)

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

Origin:
1755–65; < F < dial. (Savoy) avalantse, alter. (by assoc. with avaler to descend rapidly) of laventse < pre-L (perh. Ligurian) *lavanca, or reshaping of LL labīna landslide (deriv. of L labī to slide) with a pre-L suffix -anca

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To avalanche

av·a·lanche (āv'ə-lānch')

A fall or slide of a large mass, as of snow or rock, down a mountainside.
A massive or overwhelming amount; a flood: received an avalanche of mail.

v.   av·a·lanched, av·a·lanch·ing, av·a·lanch·es

v.   intr.
To fall or slide in a massive or overwhelming amount.
v.   tr.
To overwhelm; inundate.

[French; akin to Provençal lavanca, ravine, perhaps ultimately from Latin lābī, to slip.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : avalanche

Spanish: avalancha,

German: die Lawine,

Japanese: なだれ

More Translations »

avalanche

1771, from Fr. avalanche, from Romansch avalantze "descent," altered (by metathesis of -l- and -v-, probably influenced by O.Fr. avaler "to descend, go down") from Prov. lavanca "avalanche," perhaps from a pre-L. Alpine language (the suffix -anca suggests Ligurian).

avalanche (āv'ə-lānch') Pronunciation Key

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.
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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