a mass of snow, ice and rock that falls down the side of a mountain 雪崩；山崩；崩塌 alpine villages destroyed in an avalanche 在一场雪崩中被摧毁的高山村庄 He was killed in an avalanche while skiing. 他在滑雪时被雪崩杀死。 - (figurative)
We received an avalanche of letters in reply to our advertisement. 我们在登出广告后收到了雪片般飞来的大批答复信件。 🔊🔊
Extra ExamplesTopics Weatherb2, The environmentb2, Geographyb2- (figurative)
The issue has generated an avalanche of controversy. 这个问题引起了无数争议。 - (figurative)
the avalanche of lawlessness threatening to engulf our civilization 威胁着要吞没我们文明的目无法纪的状况
Word Originlate 18th cent.: from French, alteration of the Alpine dialect word lavanche (of unknown origin), influenced by avaler ‘descend’; compare with Italian valanga.