avalanche
n. countablen. a large mass of snow, ice, or rock that slides rapidly down a mountain. You use this word to describe a sudden and powerful natural event.
n. a large mass of snow, ice, or rock that slides rapidly down a mountainside. Also used metaphorically for a sudden, overwhelming number of things arriving at once.
The avalanche buried the small village in snow.
A sudden avalanche swept down the slope, forcing the hikers to seek shelter in a cave.
The resignation of the CEO triggered an avalanche of media speculation and stock market volatility that lasted for weeks.
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”).