Dictionary

avalanche en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈævəlɑːnʃ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈævəlæn(t)ʃ/ (Canada, US)

Etymology

From French avalanche, from Franco-Provençal (Savoy) avalançhe, blend of aval (“downhill”) and standard lavençhe, from Vulgar Latin *labanka (compare Occitan lavanca, Italian valanga), of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of Late Latin lābīna (“landslide”) (compare Franco-Provençal (Dauphiné) lavino, Romansh lavina), from Latin lābēs, from lābor (“to slip, slide”).

Meanings

1. A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice.
   • They were drinking from a fountain / That was pouring like an avalanche / Coming down the mountain 1996, “Pepper”, performed by Butthole Surfers:
2. A fall of earth, rocks, etc., similar to that of an avalanche of snow or ice.
3. (broadly) A sudden, great, or irresistible descent or influx; anything like an avalanche in suddenness and overwhelming quantity.
   • The apparent success of the City and South London triggered an avalanche of bills for Tube railways, and in 1892 a Joint Select Committee of Parliament set out some ground rules. 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 109:
   • I stepped into an avalanche, it covered up my soul 1971, Leonard Cohen, “Avalanche”, in Songs of Love and Hate:
   • Yes, but she talked it away. She uses a whole language to herself. Her discourse is an avalanche of words, beneath which the hearers are overwhelmed. 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 177:

Forms

Deriveds

interavalanche · avalanche lily · Townsend avalanche · word avalanche · slab avalanche · electron avalanche · avalanchelike · avalanche effect · applanche · avalancheless

Synonyms

snowslip · blitz · snowslide · barrage

Translations (158)

ast ádiga (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ast ádene (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ckb ھەرەس (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · no lavine (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sh úsov (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · hi हिमस्खलन (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sh snježna lavina (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · mi horowhenua (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · hy հյուս (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · no ras (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · ar اِنْهِيَار ثَلْجِيّ (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · pl awalansza (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sv ras (sudden descent or influx) · et laviin (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · fa رانش زمین (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · mi horohuka (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · bo གངས་རུད (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sh ла̀вина (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · bg лави́на (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · gl entullada (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · pl lawina (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · ky көчкү (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · uk лави́на (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · eo lavango (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · bo གངས་རུག (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · it slavina (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · id longsor (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · de Lawine (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · de Schneelawine (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · it frana (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · sh làvina (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · da sneskred (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · de Eislawine (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · he מַפֹּלֶת (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · sv jordskred (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · es alud (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ba лайғы (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · th หิมะถล่ม (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ga maidhm shneachta (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · gd maoim-sneachda (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · mk лавина (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · bg свлачище (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · sq ortek (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · cs lavina (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · pt deslizamento (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · no snøras (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · lv lavīna (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ja 雪崩 (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · hy ձնահյուս (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · no snøskred (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · eu elur jausi (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · fi maanvyöry (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · pl lawina (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · it valanga (sudden descent or influx) · ru обва́л (sudden descent or influx) · oc avalancha (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ps يمال (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · cy eirlithriad (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ru обва́л (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · vi tuyết lở (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · tk gar topalaňy (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ru лави́на (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · sh làvina (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · fi vyöry (sudden descent or influx) · fa بهمن (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · el κατολίσθηση (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · sq rungajë (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ga maidhm shléibhe (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · io avalancho (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · it valanga (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · id salju longsor (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · tr çığ (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sv snöskred (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ru лави́на (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · mi horonga huka (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · no skred (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · fr avalanche (sudden descent or influx) · sv skred (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · ro ebulment (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · ka ზვავი (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sh у́сов (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · fr avalanche (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · gl avalancha (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ms salji runtuh (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sh úsov (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · hu lavina (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ro avalanșă (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · iu ᐊᓗᐃᖅᑲᓇᖅ (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ko 설붕 (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · da jordskred (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · es avalancha (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · fa سیل (sudden descent or influx) · an lurte (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ca allau (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ko 눈사태 (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sq dragë (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ba ҡар ишелмәһе (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · kmr aşît (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · sv lavin (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · is snjóflóð (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · kk көшкін (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · cmn 山崩 (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · sq branë (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · eu elurrolde (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · pt avalanche (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ro alunecare (sudden descent or influx) · de Lawine (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · da lavine (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · vi lở tuyết (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · de Gletscherlawine (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · el χιονοστιβάδα (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · fi lumivyöry (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · el χιονοστιβάδα (sudden descent or influx) · ba шыуышма (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sk lavína (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · gl nafreita (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · az uçqun (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · sl plaz (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · pl lawina (sudden descent or influx) · tg баҳман (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · be лаві́на (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ro alunecare de teren (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · gl laredo (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · lo ຫິມະຖະຫຼົ່ມ (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · an lit (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · kmr aşît (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ar تَيْهُور (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sh у́сов (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ml ഹിമപാതം (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · mi horonga (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · nl lawine (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · lb Lawin (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · oc lau (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · cmn 雪崩 (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · kmr aşît (sudden descent or influx) · mk лавина (sudden descent or influx) · lt lavina (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · pt deslize (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · nl lawine (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · mk одрон (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · mk свлечиште (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · ug قار كۆچۈش (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ro lavină (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · az uçqun (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sh ла̀вина (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ab асыԥса (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · fo skalvalop (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · uz koʻchki (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ja 山崩れ (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · ba күскен (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · ht lavalas (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · fr avalanche (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · gl nafreita (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sv ras (fall of earth, rocks, etc.) · tg тарма (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · sh сњежна лавина (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · az qar uçqunu (large sliding mass of snow and ice) · mi horo (fall of earth, rocks, etc.)

avalanche en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈævəlɑːnʃ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈævəlæn(t)ʃ/ (Canada, US)

Etymology

From French avalanche, from Franco-Provençal (Savoy) avalançhe, blend of aval (“downhill”) and standard lavençhe, from Vulgar Latin *labanka (compare Occitan lavanca, Italian valanga), of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of Late Latin lābīna (“landslide”) (compare Franco-Provençal (Dauphiné) lavino, Romansh lavina), from Latin lābēs, from lābor (“to slip, slide”).

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To descend like an avalanche.
   • As it happened, I had progressed only some few feet out onto the snow when a clean-cut section stripped off the surface and avalanched. 1959, Mike Banks, chapter 7, in Rakaposhi, New York: Barnes, published 1960, page 95:
   • Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust— 1916, Robert Frost, Birches, lines 10–11:
   • Whenever the stage stopped to change horses, we would wake up, and try to recollect where we were—[…] We began to get into country, now, threaded here and there with little streams. These had high, steep banks on each side, and every time we flew down one bank and scrambled up the other, our party inside got mixed somewhat. First we would all be down in a pile at the forward end of the stage, nearly in a sitting posture, and in a second we would shoot to the other end, and stand on our heads. […] ¶ Every time we avalanched from one end of the stage to the other, the Unabridged Dictionary would come too; and every time it came it damaged somebody. 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter IV, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, pages 38–39:
2. (transitive) To come down upon; to overwhelm.
   • The applications were doubtless snowed under in the maze of official correspondence which avalanched the new government. 1961, William Alexander Deans, chapter 9, in Muffled Drumbeats in the Congo, page 95:
   • The shelf broke and the boxes avalanched the workers.
3. (transitive) To propel downward like an avalanche.
   • The scuppers could not carry off the burden of water on the schooner’s deck. She rolled it out and took it in over one rail and the other; and at times, nose thrown skyward, sitting down on her heel, she avalanched it aft. 1912, Jack London, A Sun of the Son, Chapter Eight, IV:
   • When our artist and I were dropped down our first coal-mine, we felt a leetle bit anxious. It was something new. But we have been avalanched down the incline from Peak Forest, and boomeranged round the sudden curve at Rowsley, and have run the gauntlet at Penistone and King’s Cross without ever taking the precaution to say “God help us.” 1899, Robert Blatchford, “Signals”, in Dismal England, London: Walter Scott, page 147:
   • Then another misfortune avalanched itself upon me, before even I had fully taken in the extent of the first. 1930, Arthur Gask, chapter 11, in The Shadow of Larose:
   • Swelter, following at high speed, had caught his toe at the raised lip of the opening, and unable to check his momentum, had avalanched himself into warm water. 1946, Mervyn Peake, “Blood at Midnight”, in Titus Groan, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode:

Forms

Translations (10)

pl spaść (to come down upon) · eo lavangi (to come down upon) · sv rasa ner (to come down upon) · sv falla (to come down upon) · ka ჩაზვავება (to come down upon) · pl spadać (to come down upon) · ro copleși (to come down upon) · fi vyöryä (to come down upon) · ka ჩამოზვავება (to come down upon) · io avalanchar (to come down upon)