avalanche - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: avalanche

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

av·a·lanche

Audio Help [av-uh-lanch, -lahnch] Pronunciation Key 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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
avalanche

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

av·a·lanche Audio Help (āv'ə-lānch') Pronunciation Key
n.

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.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

avalanche
noun
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"
verb
1.	gather into a huge mass and roll down a mountain, of snow

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
avalanche [ˈӕvəlaːnʃ] noun

a fall of snow and ice down a mountain
Example: Two skiers were buried by the avalanche.

Arabic:	إنْهِيار ثَلْجي
Chinese (Simplified):	雪崩
Chinese (Traditional):	雪崩
Czech:	lavina
Danish:	lavine; sneskred
Dutch:	lawine
Estonian:	lumelaviin
Finnish:	lumivyöry
French:	avalanche
German:	die Lawine
Greek:	χιονοστιβάδα
Hungarian:	lavina
Icelandic:	snjóflóð
Indonesian:	salju longsor
Italian:	valanga

Japanese:	なだれ
Korean:	(눈·얼음 등의) 사태
Latvian:	lavīna
Lithuanian:	lavina, griūtis
Norwegian:	snøskred
Polish:	lawina
Portuguese (Brazil):	avalanche
Portuguese (Portugal):	avalanche
Romanian:	avalanşă
Russian:	снежный обвал, лавина
Slovak:	lavína
Slovenian:	plaz
Spanish:	avalancha
Swedish:	lavin
Turkish:	çığ

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

avalanche Audio Help (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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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