avalanche
1 of 2noun
av·a·lanche ˈa-və-ˌlanch 
1
: a large mass of snow, ice, earth, rock, or other material in swift motion down a mountainside or over a precipice
2
: a sudden great or overwhelming rush or accumulation of something
hit by an avalanche of paperwork
3
physics : a cumulative process in which photons or accelerated charge carriers produce additional photons or charge carriers through collisions (as with gas molecules)
avalanche
2 of 2verb
avalanched; avalanching
intransitive verb
: to descend in an avalanche
Snow avalanched down the mountain.
transitive verb
: overwhelm, flood
The office was avalanched with applications.
Example Sentences
Noun He was buried by an avalanche.
Recent Examples on the Web
Stephen Sorace, Fox News, 7 Aug. 2022 The path the group were resting from would have led them directly into the path of the avalanche and was completely covered by it. Duncan Madden, Forbes, 11 July 2022 The Wall Street Journal Search crews have found two more bodies at the site of an avalanche in the Italian Alps, bringing the death toll to nine, Italian authorities announced Wednesday. Harold Maass, The Week, 7 July 2022 Maurizio Dellantonio, national president of the Alpine Rescue Service, said teams had found body parts, hiking equipment and clothing on the surface of the debris, evidence of the avalanche’s powerful impact on the hikers. Paolo Santalucia, Andrea Rosa And Nicole Winfield, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2022 According to the Himalayan Times, crews performed an aerial search of the avalanche on Monday but were unable to locate Tamang in the debris. Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 9 May 2022 Officers with the Anchorage Police Department responded in the early hours of Friday to reports of an avalanche that cut off residents on Hiland Road, the department said in a statement. Jamiel Lynch, CNN, 27 Mar. 2022 Fans shouldn’t lose sight of that in the middle of this avalanche of Doctor Strange 2 cameo rumors. Chris Smith, BGR, 2 Feb. 2022 The first Snowy Torrents, which publishes detailed accounts of every fatal avalanche accident on record, came out in 1968 and has since grown into a database that records accidents from the mid-1800s through the present day. Sarah Trent, Outside Online, 22 Aug. 2022 Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 17 Feb. 2022 And many of those paths, some of which are accessible from the Humphreys Peak trail, will avalanche every year. Shanti Lerner, The Arizona Republic, 4 Aug. 2021 Many of these rocks have avalanched from the walls of steep mountains. Anchorage Daily News, 16 Nov. 2019 Early pioneers of universality, led by the physicist Leo Kadanoff, discovered that systems as different as avalanching sand piles and magnetizing metals all operate on multiple scales. Quanta Magazine, 31 July 2019 Just look at any photo of Gritty: his lidless, spinning eyes; his inert tongue; his unshaven beard which avalanches over his collarbone, like a Portland bartender’s. Jason Gay, WSJ, 27 Sep. 2018 Conspiracy mogul Alex Jones’s gruff voice avalanched out of the speakers and declared war on globalists and labeled Hillary Clinton a criminal who needed to be locked away. Longreads, 31 Oct. 2017 Licht got avalanched for dealing third-round and fourth-round picks in 2016 to move into the second round to draft a kicker. Peter King, SI.com, 14 Aug. 2017 After being fourth in team defense in 2014 under Jim Schwartz, Rex Ryan’s unit got avalanched the past two seasons, finishing 19th twice with uglier analytics measurables than that. Peter King, The MMQB, 22 May 2017 See More
Noun
The recovery was further delayed after a series of late-season storms brought a massive amount of snow in March and April, increasing the risk of avalanche and creating difficult climbing conditions. Stephen Sorace, Fox News, 7 Aug. 2022 The path the group were resting from would have led them directly into the path of the avalanche and was completely covered by it. Duncan Madden, Forbes, 11 July 2022 The Wall Street Journal Search crews have found two more bodies at the site of an avalanche in the Italian Alps, bringing the death toll to nine, Italian authorities announced Wednesday. Harold Maass, The Week, 7 July 2022 Maurizio Dellantonio, national president of the Alpine Rescue Service, said teams had found body parts, hiking equipment and clothing on the surface of the debris, evidence of the avalanche’s powerful impact on the hikers. Paolo Santalucia, Andrea Rosa And Nicole Winfield, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2022 According to the Himalayan Times, crews performed an aerial search of the avalanche on Monday but were unable to locate Tamang in the debris. Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 9 May 2022 Officers with the Anchorage Police Department responded in the early hours of Friday to reports of an avalanche that cut off residents on Hiland Road, the department said in a statement. Jamiel Lynch, CNN, 27 Mar. 2022 Fans shouldn’t lose sight of that in the middle of this avalanche of Doctor Strange 2 cameo rumors. Chris Smith, BGR, 2 Feb. 2022 The first Snowy Torrents, which publishes detailed accounts of every fatal avalanche accident on record, came out in 1968 and has since grown into a database that records accidents from the mid-1800s through the present day. Sarah Trent, Outside Online, 22 Aug. 2022 Verb
That a bunch of boys will insincerely avalanche into girls sports in order to gain some competitive advantage, to slake some hearty thirst for winning? Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 17 Feb. 2022 And many of those paths, some of which are accessible from the Humphreys Peak trail, will avalanche every year. Shanti Lerner, The Arizona Republic, 4 Aug. 2021 Many of these rocks have avalanched from the walls of steep mountains. Anchorage Daily News, 16 Nov. 2019 Early pioneers of universality, led by the physicist Leo Kadanoff, discovered that systems as different as avalanching sand piles and magnetizing metals all operate on multiple scales. Quanta Magazine, 31 July 2019 Just look at any photo of Gritty: his lidless, spinning eyes; his inert tongue; his unshaven beard which avalanches over his collarbone, like a Portland bartender’s. Jason Gay, WSJ, 27 Sep. 2018 Conspiracy mogul Alex Jones’s gruff voice avalanched out of the speakers and declared war on globalists and labeled Hillary Clinton a criminal who needed to be locked away. Longreads, 31 Oct. 2017 Licht got avalanched for dealing third-round and fourth-round picks in 2016 to move into the second round to draft a kicker. Peter King, SI.com, 14 Aug. 2017 After being fourth in team defense in 2014 under Jim Schwartz, Rex Ryan’s unit got avalanched the past two seasons, finishing 19th twice with uglier analytics measurables than that. Peter King, The MMQB, 22 May 2017 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
French, from French dialect (Franco-Provençal) lavantse, avalantse
First Known Use
Noun
1744, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1826, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense
Kids Definition
avalanche
noun
av·a·lanche ˈa-və-ˌlanch
: a large mass of snow and ice or of earth or rock sliding down a mountainside or over a cliff
avalanched
verb
as in tumbled
to fall down in a large mass The snow avalanched down the mountainside. Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- tumbled
- fell
- skidded
- crashed
- descended
- slid
- slipped
- plunged
- poured
- flowed
- plummeted
- flooded
- deluged
- inundated
- sunk
- dropped
- engulfed
- swamped
- streamed
- overwhelmed
- sank
- overflowed
- drowned
- submerged
- smothered
- sluiced
- flushed
- spouted
- gushed
- gulfed
- spurted
- submersed
- overran
- overcame
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- dried
- drained
- dehydrated
- parched