avalanche
noun/ˈævəlɑːnʃ/
/ˈævəlæntʃ/
(North American English also snowslide)
- a mass of snow, ice and rock that falls down the side of a mountain
- alpine villages destroyed in an avalanche
- He was killed in an avalanche while skiing.
- (figurative) We received an avalanche of applications in reply to our advertisement.
Extra ExamplesTopics Weatherb2, The environmentb2, Geographyb2- (figurative) The issue has generated an avalanche of controversy.
- (figurative) the avalanche of lawlessness threatening to engulf our civilization
Word Originlate 18th cent.: from French, alteration of the Alpine dialect word lavanche (of unknown origin), influenced by avaler ‘descend’; compare with Italian valanga.Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
avalanche