a-v-a-l-a-n-c-h-e
AVALANCHE A massive snow slide down a mountainside; sudden overwhelming rush of anything; to fall or slide in large quantities. Delivers 17 base points in word games.
17
Points in Scrabble
Base tile values • No multipliers applied
Avalanche embodies nature's most terrifying demonstration of physics—gravity plus mass equals devastation. These white tsunamis can reach 200 mph, generating forces that pulverize forests, bury villages, and reshape mountainsides in seconds. Yet avalanches also sculpt Earth's most beautiful landscapes, carving valleys, depositing fertile soil, creating the dramatic relief that draws millions to mountains. This duality—destroyer and creator—makes avalanches both feared phenomena and essential geological processes.
The science of avalanches combines meteorology, physics, and crystallography. Snow layers accumulate like geological strata, each recording weather conditions. Temperature gradients create weak layers; wind deposits build unstable slabs. The trigger—a skier's weight, a sonic boom, temperature change—initiates catastrophic failure. Modern avalanche forecasting uses satellite imagery, weather modeling, and explosive testing, yet prediction remains imperfect. Mountain communities balance economic needs (ski tourism) with safety, developing sophisticated warning systems while respecting snow's unpredictable power.
Metaphorically, avalanche describes any overwhelming cascade: email avalanches, debt avalanches, even avalanches of emotion. This linguistic evolution reflects how natural disasters provide vocabulary for modern chaos. In business, the "avalanche method" tackles debt by addressing highest interest rates first. In psychology, "emotional avalanches" describe trauma responses. Gaming features "avalanche mechanics" where one action triggers cascading effects. The word's versatility demonstrates how powerful natural phenomena become universal metaphors for unstoppable forces.
In Scrabble competition, AVALANCHE showcases solid 9-letter scoring potential. The V (4 points) provides value boost, while repeated A's ensure drawing feasibility. Building from LAVA, LANCE, or LANE maximizes board efficiency. The word's dramatic associations make it memorable during tense endgames. Geographic and natural disaster vocabulary enriches competitive play—players who study earth sciences gain access to specialized terminology. AVALANCHE can extend to AVALANCHED for verb forms, demonstrating morphological flexibility.
AVALANCHE descends from French Alpine dialect "lavanche," altered by folk etymology to "avalanche" (influenced by "avaler," to descend). The original Franco-Provençal "lavantse" likely derived from pre-Roman Alpine languages, reflecting ancient mountain peoples' need to name their greatest threat. Entering English in 1771 through French mountaineering literature, it replaced older terms like "snow-slip" and "lauwine." The word's journey from isolated Alpine valleys to global usage parallels mountaineering's evolution from local necessity to international sport.
•The deadliest avalanche killed 22,000 people in Peru's Huascarán disaster of 1970
•Avalanche debris can cement harder than concrete within hours through sintering processes
•90% of avalanche victims trigger the slide that kills them—a tragic irony of mountain sports
"The data avalanche from the satellite overwhelmed our servers within minutes of launch."
"Years of deferred maintenance created an avalanche of problems when the new owner took possession."
Other 9-letter words describing powerful natural phenomena:
Total base points: 17 (Scrabble)
Vowels: 4 (A, A, A, E) | Consonants: 5 (V, L, N, C, H)
Practice unscrambling letters to find more high-scoring words like AVALANCHE