1
as in landslides
a large mass especially of snow, ice, dirt, or rocks descending from a high place
Much of the mountainside was covered by the avalanche.
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2
as in influxes
a sudden large amount of something that overwhelms
After the disaster, the town received an avalanche of letters and donations from supporters and well-wishers.
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as in tumbles
to fall down in a large mass
The snow avalanched down the mountainside.
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Recent Examples of avalanches
Ca Earthquake Bot, Sacbee.com, 15 Feb. 2026
On Friday, there was only a slight danger of avalanches in Slovakia's highest mountain range.
—Arkansas Online, 7 Feb. 2026
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is reminding skiers that the potential for avalanches remains high in some areas after a skier was injured on Saturday.
—Christa Swanson, CBS News, 11 Jan. 2026
For the 2024 to 2025 winter season, a total of 22 people were killed in avalanches.
—Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 11 Jan. 2026
Noun
Earthquakes' sudden, rapid shaking can cause fires, tsunamis, landslides or avalanches.
—Ca Earthquake Bot, Sacbee.com, 15 Feb. 2026
On Friday, there was only a slight danger of avalanches in Slovakia's highest mountain range.
—Arkansas Online, 7 Feb. 2026
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is reminding skiers that the potential for avalanches remains high in some areas after a skier was injured on Saturday.
—Christa Swanson, CBS News, 11 Jan. 2026
For the 2024 to 2025 winter season, a total of 22 people were killed in avalanches.
—Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 11 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for avalanches
Noun
-
Earthquakes' sudden, rapid shaking can cause fires, tsunamis, landslides or avalanches.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Since 2021, landslides have forced a shutdown of rail service through the city multiple times.—
Laylan Connelly,
Oc Register,
16 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Largely invisible at the time, especially compared with the vast Italian and Jewish migrations a century earlier, these influxes were ultimately just as transformative.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Upheavals, repression and economic turmoil under those leaders sometimes produced large influxes of new arrivals.—
Anthony Man,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Those records are only going to get worse with time as the team tumbles toward the draft lottery.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
-
The ceremony turns into something reminiscent of the Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake, as the last keg tumbles down a nearby hill and the entire wedding party follows.—
Sarah Whitten,Sara Salinas,Sarah Jackson,Leslie Josephs,
CNBC,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Schoen’s land had been through floods before, and water reaching past the pavilion was nothing new to him.—
Abrielle Kate Maddison,
Austin American Statesman,
11 Feb. 2026
-
In reality, Real Kashmir FC was born out of the devastating Kashmir floods of 2014, which killed around 550 people in India and Pakistan.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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As a result, sewage blockages and overflows became widespread, increasing the risk of wastewater contaminating drinking water sources and heightening the likelihood of outbreaks of diarrhea, hepatitis A and other waterborne diseases in an already vulnerable community.—
Sarah Ferguson,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
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However, long-term problems persist as completely eliminating overflows will take decades, according to officials.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
16 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The former is a ring on the bottom of the rock that skids across the ice, and the latter is a band around the sides of the rock that collides with other rocks (ideally knocking an opponent’s rock off the bull’s-eye or nudging your team’s closer to it).—
Andrea Thompson,
Scientific American,
10 Feb. 2026
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Cargo plane skids off runway in Hong Kong An Emirates Boeing 747 cargo plane skidded off the runway after arriving at Hong Kong International Airport and landed in the sea, according to airport authority.—
Clara McMichael,
ABC News,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Classic Birkenstock slides are my go-to from late spring through summer.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Feb. 2026
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Knee-assist devices and exoskeletons often use simple bearings placed near the knee, which can create painful misalignment because a real knee hinges but also shifts, rolls, and slides.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In 2017, soaking storms led to flooding that caused $100 million in damage in downtown San Jose and the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people when the spillway at Oroville Dam, the nation’s tallest dam, in Butte County, partially collapsed under torrents of water.—
Paul Rogers,
Mercury News,
15 Jan. 2026
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Without intervention, water flows off the steep slopes in torrents, rapidly stripping away soil.—
Stephen Acabado,
The Conversation,
15 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Avalanches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/avalanches. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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