avalanche

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a large mass of snow, ice, and sometimes rock that suddenly rushes down a mountain

   The avalanche buried the road beneath several meters of snow.

2. 2
   noun

   a sudden, overwhelming quantity of things

   The announcement triggered an avalanche of applications.

3. 3
   verb

   to descend rapidly in a great mass, or to overwhelm as if in an avalanche

   Wet snow avalanched down the gully after the temperature rose.

Simplified etymology

Avalanche entered English in the late 18th century from the French Alpine dialect word lavanche, whose earlier origin is unknown. Its present form was influenced by French avaler, meaning “to descend.”

Borrowed from French avalanche, from a Franco-Provençal Alpine word for a descending mass of snow. Its deeper origin is uncertain, but the form was influenced by French aval, 'downhill,' and has been connected with Late Latin and regional words derived from Latin labi, 'to slip or slide.' The figurative sense treats an overwhelming quantity as a rushing mass.

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External links

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