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avalanche

 - 3 dictionary results

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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av·a·lanche   (āv'ə-lānch')   
n.  
  1. A fall or slide of a large mass, as of snow or rock, down a mountainside.

  2. 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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Word Origin & History

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).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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