/av"euh lanch', -lahnch'/ , n. , v. , avalanched, avalanching .
n.
1. a large mass of snow, ice, etc., detached from a mountain slope and sliding or falling suddenly downward.
2. anything like an avalanche in suddenness and overwhelming quantity: an avalanche of misfortunes; an avalanche of fan mail.
3. Also called Townsend avalanche . Physics, Chem. 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.
v.i.
4. to come down in, or like, an avalanche.
v.t.
5. to overwhelm with an extremely large amount of anything; swamp.
[ 1755-65; avalantse, alter. (by assoc. with avaler to descend rapidly) of laventse
lavanca, or reshaping of LL labina landslide (deriv. of L labi to slide) with a pre-L suffix -anca ]