avalanche
55
4.9
- noun
- /ˈæv.ə.læntʃ/
- UK
- Below us was shattered rock, snow, blocks of ice, and the debris and detritus of the avalanche.
- snow avalanche
- debris avalanche
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Watch on YouTubeAnd we're going over all this avalanche prone terrain.
- And we're going over all this avalanche prone terrain.
- So what we felt was the air blast of the avalanche, like final breaths, basically.
- So tell me about your, your experience with avalanches.
- And so there was the risk or the potential of an avalanche, but at least you can see the rocks.
- There, there was a Japanese Research Center that studied avalanches.
- You know what Avalanche, you know, search, you know, searching for avalanches and predicting them or what is it called?
Examples
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Some distance away, two other climbers had also been caught in the avalanche.
Academic text (2011) -
You remember what to do in case of an avalanche?
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But you were hit by an avalanche, my friend.
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And I doubt any pictures taken during the avalanche would have helped much in finding it...
Blog text (5) -
Last winter, an avalanche roared down the mountain.
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In the book, a husband and wife get caught in an avalanche in the Alps.
Blog text (20) -
Buried by an avalanche on the Hindu Kush.
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Deadly avalanches of hot ash and rock, force residents and tourists to flee.
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They were honeymooning in the Alps... and he was killed by an avalanche.
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Last winter, an avalanche roared down the mountain, covering everything in its path.
Synonyms
22
3.5
A large mass of mud that moves suddenly down a hill after heavy rain
19
3.3
A large mass of earth and rock that moves down a hill or cliff
16
3.4
A large mass of earth, rock, or snow moving down a slope
2
3.5
A sudden fall of many rocks down a slope that can block roads
1
4.6
A sudden fall of rocks from a cliff or steep slope
1
3.3
A large amount of snow that suddenly slides down a slope
A sudden slide of earth or rocks down a slope
Compounds
1
9.9
A plant that lives for many years with white flowers often with orange spots near melting snow
How Big
Surface Forms
Etymology
Avalanche comes from an old French mountain word aval meaning 'down', linked to the idea of a valley. Think of a wall of snow and ice sliding fast down a slope and covering everything, which is why an avalanche is a mass of snow, ice, and sometimes mud moving quickly downhill.