cascade

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a sudden downpour, as of tears or sparks, likened to a rain shower

   The fireworks were a cascade of gold and blue.

2. 2
   noun

   a succession of stages or operations or processes or units

   progressing in severity as though a cascade of genetic damage was occurring

3. 3
   verb

   to rush down in big quantities, like a cascade

   The water cascades beautifully down the mountain.

4. 4
   noun

   A waterfall or series of small waterfalls.

   Now murm'ring soft, now roaring in cascade.

5. 5
   noun

   A stream or sequence of a thing or things occurring as if falling like a cascade.

   2001, Richard Restak, The Secret Life of the Brain, Joseph Henry Press The rise in serotonin levels sets off a cascade of chemical events

6. 6
   noun

   A sequence of absurd short messages posted to a newsgroup by different authors, each one responding to the most recent message and quoting the entire sequence to that point (with ever-increasing indentation).

   Don't you hate cascades? I hate cascades!

7. 7
   noun

   A hairpiece for women consisting of curled locks or a bun attached to a firm base, used to create the illusion of fuller hair.

   A cascade can be added to one or both sides of the band to work well with longer hair.

8. 8
   verb

   To fall as a waterfall or series of small waterfalls.

   Services between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley via Falkirk High are currently suspended, following a 30-metre breach of the Union Canal that occurred on August 12 after torrential rain and thunderstorms. The thousands of gallons of water that cascaded onto the railway line below washed away track, ballast and overhead line equipment, and undermined embankments along a 300-metre section of Scotland's busiest rail link.

Etymology

From French cascade, from Italian cascata, from cascare (“to fall”), from Vulgar Latin *cāsicāre, derived from Latin cadere, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d-.