avalanche
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a large mass of snow, ice, or rocks that falls quickly down the side of a mountain.
n.a rapid descent of a large mass of snow, ice, soil, or rock down a mountainside or slope.
Simple“The hikers were warned to stay off the peak because of the risk of an avalanche.”
In context“Rescue teams were deployed immediately after the avalanche buried the mountain pass, though heavy snowfall hampered their initial search efforts.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'of' followed by the material, such as 'an avalanche of mud'.
Synonymssnowslidelandslide - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a very large amount of something that arrives suddenly and is difficult to handle.
n.a sudden and overwhelming influx or quantity of something, typically abstract or communicative.
Simple“The company received an avalanche of complaints after the website stopped working.”
In context“Following the controversial announcement, the press office had to manage an avalanche of enquiries from international media outlets.”
UsageCommonly used in the pattern 'an avalanche of [plural noun]'.
- 03 C2 Proficiency
v.to fall down like a mountain slide, or to overwhelm someone with too much of something.
v.to descend in the manner of an avalanche or to overwhelm a subject with a sudden, massive quantity.
Simple“The rocks started to avalanche down the cliff after the heavy rain.”
In context“The sheer volume of data threatened to avalanche the research team, forcing them to adopt more automated filtering methods.”
UsageCan be used intransitively for physical movement or transitively when describing the act of overwhelming someone.
“Initial reports from Nepal had suggested that an earthquake may have triggered the ice avalanche and landslide.”
“Initial reports suggested an earthquake had triggered an avalanche and caused the floods, Shisir Khanal, Nepal’s foreign minister, told the country’s parliament.”
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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.