avalancha

avalanche

noun ah-bah-LAHN-chah Rare

Origin: French avalanche, of Alpine origin

Also means

flood, deluge (figurative)

Usage Note

Avalancha is feminine (la avalancha) and is a direct borrowing from French, which in turn has Alpine roots. In figurative use it means an overwhelming flood of things: una avalancha de críticas ('an avalanche of criticism'). An alternative Spanish term for snow avalanche is alud (m), which is more common in some technical or poetic registers.

Examples

"Una avalancha bloqueó la carretera de montaña."

Natural Translation

An avalanche blocked the mountain road.

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