avalanche

Meaning

Noun

1. A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice.
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.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To descend like an avalanche.
2. (transitive) To come down upon; to overwhelm.
3. (transitive) To propel downward like an avalanche.

Synonyms

snowslip

landslide

flood

snowslide

roll down

torrent

alluvion

snowdrift

deluge

blizzard

overflow

plenty

roll

rush

shower

🚿

slipping

snowfield

spate

surge

wallow

snow slide

snow-slide

slipping down

eboulement

snow-slip

snow bank

Townsend avalanche

Townsend ionization

cumulative ionization

ion avalanche

avalanche effect

snow avalanche

soil slip

soil fall

soil slump

slacktip

accumulation

snow slip

barrage

burst

cascade

collapse

devolution

flow

glacier

ground swell

onslaught

Translations

avalanche

Lawine

valanga

lawine

avalancha

alud

χιονοστιβάδα

avalanche

aşît

lavina

slavina

Erdrutsch

allau

çığ

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈævəlɑːnʃ/

Etymology

Cognate with Occitan: lavanca

Cognate with Italian: valanga

Cognate with Romansh: lavina

In summary

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, Romansch lavina), from Latin lābēs, from lābor (“to slip, slide”).