avalanche /ˈævəlɑːntʃ/ noun & verb1.a large mass of snow, ice and rock that slides quickly down a mountain‑side
雪崩；山崩（冰雪、石块）
Several skiers were buried by a sudden avalanche on the high‑altitude slope.
几名滑雪者在高海拔坡道上被突如其来的雪崩掩埋。
2.a very large quantity of things that arrive or happen at the same time
纷至沓来的一大堆；蜂拥而至的事物（比喻义，外刊里经常用到）
The movie star received an avalanche of messages after she announced her retirement.
这位女星宣布隐退后，收到了铺天盖地的海量留言。
3.动词 v.
to come down or arrive in a huge, overwhelming quantity
雪崩般涌来；大量涌入
Complaints avalanched into the customer‑service department over the new policy.
针对这项新政策的投诉如潮水般涌向客服部门。
词源源自法语 avalanche，早期来自阿尔卑斯山区方言，本意就是雪山滑落的大雪块。
属于书面 + 新闻高频词。
它最有价值的考点恰恰不是 “雪崩” 本义，而是比喻义，用来描述信息、请求、问题、批评短时间内大量爆发，经济学人、纽约时报几乎每周都能见到这个隐喻用法。
联想记忆：雪崩从山顶冲向山谷，引申为事物 “如山崩般涌来”
纽约时报原文An avalanche of online criticism forced the company to withdraw its controversial advertisement.
铺天盖地的网上批评迫使这家公司撤下了那条引发争议的广告。
外刊高频固定搭配an avalanche of + 复数名词 一大堆、蜂拥而至的……
avalanche risk 雪崩风险
trigger an avalanche 引发雪崩；引发潮水般的（评论、争议）
生活高频实用场景When the streamer went viral, an avalanche of new followers flooded his account.
这位博主爆火之后，海量新粉丝涌入了他的账号。
I was buried under an avalanche of work after my colleague took sick leave.
同事休病假之后，一大堆工作如山崩一样压到了我身上。