a large mass of snow, ice, etc., detached from a mountain slope and sliding or falling suddenly downward.

anything like an avalanche in suddenness and overwhelming quantity

an avalanche of misfortunes; an avalanche of fan mail.

Also called Townsend avalanche. Physics, Chemistry . a cumulative ionization process in which the ions and electrons of one generation undergo collisions that produce a greater number of ions and electrons in succeeding generations.

to come down in, or like, an avalanche.

to overwhelm with an extremely large amount of anything; swamp.

noun

barrage , deluge , flood , inundation , landslide , landslip , snowslide , torrentnotes:avalanche means literally \'a gulp , something swallowed\' from french avaler \'to swallow\' and italian lava \'torrent\' and refers to snow , rocks , or other debris coming down a mountainside - whereas a landslide is an entire mountainside coming down , cataclysm , mudslide , slide , torrent