cascade

cas·cade   (kā-skād')    n.   A waterfall or a series of small waterfalls over steep rocks. Something, such as lace, thought to resemble a waterfall or series of small waterfalls, especially an arrangement or fall of material. A succession of stages, processes, operations, or units. Electronics A series of components or networks, the output of each of which serves as the input for the next. A chemical or physiological process that occurs in successive stages, each of which is dependent on the preceding one, and often producing a cumulative effect: an enzymatic cascade. intr. & tr.v.   cas·cad·ed, cas·cad·ing, cas·cades To fall or cause to fall in or as if in a cascade. [French, from Italian cascata, from cascare, to fall, from Vulgar Latin *casicāre, from Latin cadere; see kad- in Indo-European roots.]

Main Entry: cas·cade
Pronunciation: (")kas-'kAd
Function: noun
: a molecular, biochemical, or physiological process occurring in a succession ofstages each of which is closely related to or depends on the output of the previous stage cascade of enzymatic reactions> cascade of events comprising the immuneresponse>

cascade cas·cade (kā-skād')
n.
A succession of actions, processes, or operations, as of a physiological process.

cascade   (kās-kād')  Pronunciation Key  A series of chemical or physiological processes that occur in successive stages, each of which is dependent on the preceding one, to produce a culminating effect. The steps involved in the clotting of blood occur as a cascade.

cascade
1. A huge volume of spurious error-messages output by a compiler with poor error recovery. Too frequently, one trivial syntax error (such as a missing ")" or "}") throws the parser out of synch so that much of the remaining program text, whether correct or not, is interpreted as garbaged or ill-formed.
2. A chain of Usenet followups, each adding some trivial variation or riposte to the text of the previous one, all of which is reproduced in the new message; an include war in which the object is to create a sort of communal graffito.
3. A collection of interconneced networking devices, typically hubs, that allows those devices to act together as a logical repeater.
[The Jargon File]
(1997-07-17)

cascade

waterfall, especially a series of small falls, consisting of water descending over rocks or boulders. It may be natural or it may be artificial. The cascade has often been used as a feature of formal gardens.

Learn more about cascade with a free trial on Britannica.com.