noun / verb
avalanche
AV-uh-lanch/ˈævəlæntʃ/
A mass of snow or rock suddenly rushing downhill.
The avalanche sweeps broken snow down the steep mountain slope.
Etymology
The ancestor meaning “descent” captures the defining movement: a mass of snow coming down a mountain slope. Its deeper ancestry is uncertain, possibly reaching a pre-Latin Alpine language.
In context
an avalanche path looks like this is this is it the snow accumulates up in the Alpine area there it eventually reaches a point where it fails and slides comes down hits the the tree line
More examples
- Loose rocks avalanched into the valley.
- The announcement brought an avalanche of questions.
- Heavy snowfall raised concern about further avalanches.
Forms
avalanche · avalanches · avalanched · avalanching
Similar words
- landslide
- Usually involves earth or rock rather than primarily snow.
- deluge
- Emphasizes overwhelming quantity without the downhill movement.