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avalanche

Pronunciation: /ˈævəlɑːnʃ/

The English word “avalanche” has 6 meanings listed here.

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. A sudden, great, or irresistible descent or influx; anything like an avalanche in suddenness and overwhelming quantity.

verb

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

Etymology

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”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.