a mass of snow, ice and rock that falls down the side of a mountainalpine villages destroyed in an avalancheHe was killed in an avalanche while skiing.(figurative)We received an avalanche of letters in reply to our advertisement.Wordfinderdisasteravalanche,cyclone,disaster,earthquake,eruption,flood,hurricane,landslide,tornado,tsunamiWordfindersnowavalanche,blizzard,drift,flurry,hail,icicle,sleet,slush,snow,thawSee related entries:Snow and ice,Mountains and valleys,Natural disastersWord Originlate 18th cent.: from French, alteration of the Alpine dialect word lavanche (of unknown origin), influenced by avaler ‘descend’; compare with Italian valanga.Extra examplesThey died in an avalanche.They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.We’ve been almost buried under the avalanche of letters.the avalanche of lawlessness threatening to engulf our civilizationThe issue has generated an avalanche of controversy.
See avalanche in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
