[kas-keyd] 
noun, verb, -cad⋅ed, -cad⋅ing.| 1. | a waterfall descending over a steep, rocky surface. |
| 2. | a series of shallow or steplike waterfalls, either natural or artificial. |
| 3. | anything that resembles a waterfall, esp. in seeming to flow or fall in abundance: a cascade of roses covering the wall. |
| 4. | (in a drain or sewer) a chain of steps for dissipating the momentum of falling water in a steep place in order to maintain a steady rate of flow. |
| 5. | an arrangement of a lightweight fabric in folds falling one over another in random or zigzag fashion. |
| 6. | a type of firework resembling a waterfall in effect. |
| 7. | Chemistry. a series of vessels, from each of which a fluid successively overflows to the next, thus presenting a large absorbing surface, as to a gas. |
| 8. | Electricity. an arrangement of component devices, as electrolytic cells, each of which feeds into the next in succession. |
| 9. | Biochemistry. a series of reactions catalyzed by enzymes that are activated sequentially by successive products of the reactions, resulting in an amplification of the initial response. |
| 10. | to fall in or like a cascade. |
| 11. | to cause to fall in a cascade. |
| 12. | Electricity. to arrange (components) in a cascade. |
| cas·cade (kā-skād') n.
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.] |
cascade cas·cade (kā-skād')
n.
A succession of actions, processes, or operations, as of a physiological process.