avalanche

avalanche
I. noun Etymology: French, from French dialect (Franco-Provençal) lavantse, avalantse Date: 1771 1. a large mass of snow, ice, earth, rock, or other material in swift motion down a mountainside or over a precipice 2. a sudden great or overwhelming rush or accumulation of something <
office workers tied down with an avalanche of paperwork
>
3. a cumulative process in which photons or accelerated charge carriers produce additional photons or charge carriers through collisions (as with gas molecules) II. verb (-lanched; -lanching) Date: 1855 intransitive verb to descend in an avalanche transitive verb overwhelm, flood

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • avalanche — [ avalɑ̃ʃ ] n. f. • 1611; lavanche XVIe; mot savoyard lavantse; bas lat. labina « glissement de terrain », de labi (cf. labile); altér. d apr. 1. aval 1 ♦ Masse de neige qui se détache d une montagne, qui dévale en entraînant des pierres, des… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Avalanche — (franz. und engl. für „Lawine)“ bezeichnet Lawinendurchbruch, Begriff aus der Festkörperphysik Avalanche (P2P), Peer2Peer Protokoll von Microsoft ein elektronisches Bauelement, siehe Avalanche Diode Chevrolet Avalanche, Pickup Pkw Avalanche… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Avalanche — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Para la banda noruega de los años 80, véase Avalanche (banda). Avalanche Publicación Marvel Comics Primera aparición Uncanny X Men #141 (Enero 1981) Creador(es) Chris Claremont y John Byrne …   Wikipedia Español

  • avalanche — s. f. 1. Grande quantidade de neve que se desprende e precipita pela encosta das montanhas (ex.: a avalanche provocou uma dezena de feridos). = ALUDE 2.  [Figurado] Queda ruidosa de algo. 3.  [Figurado] Qualquer coisa que invade ou avança súbita… …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • Avalanche — Av a*lanche (?; 277), n. [F. avalanche, fr. avaler to descend, to let down, from aval down, downward; ? (L. ad) + val, L. vallis, valley. See {Valley}.] 1. A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • avalanche — (n.) 1763, from Fr. avalanche (17c.), from Romansch (Swiss) avalantze descent, altered (by metathesis of l and v , probably influenced by O.Fr. avaler to descend, go down ) from Savoy dialect lavantse, from Prov. lavanca avalanche, perhaps from a …   Etymology dictionary

  • avalanche — [av′ə lanch΄] n. [Fr (altered after avaler, to descend) < lavanche < Prov lavanca < * lavenca, prob. a pre Roman word in a non IE language of N Italy] 1. a mass of loosened snow, earth, rocks, etc. suddenly and swiftly sliding down a… …   English World dictionary

  • avalanche — index cataclysm, overage, surfeit Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • Avalanche —    Drame de Corey Allen, avec Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow, Robert Forster, Rick Moses.   Pays: États Unis   Date de sortie: 1978   Technique: couleurs   Durée: 1 h 30    Résumé    Un complexe immobilier du Colorado, construit dans une zone… …   Dictionnaire mondial des Films

  • avalanche — [n] falling large mass; sudden rush of large quantity barrage, deluge, flood, inundation, landslide, landslip, snowslide, torrent; concepts 509,524,787 …   New thesaurus

  • avalanche — ► NOUN 1) a mass of snow and ice falling rapidly down a mountainside. 2) an overwhelming deluge. ORIGIN French …   English terms dictionary

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