landslide

[ land-slahyd ]

noun

1. the downward falling or sliding of a mass of soil, detritus, or rock on or from a steep slope.
2. the mass itself.
3. an election in which a particular victorious candidate or party receives an overwhelming mass or majority of votes:

   the 1936 landslide for Roosevelt.

4. any overwhelming victory:

   She won the contest by a landslide.

verb (used without object)

, land·slid, land·slid or land·slid·den, land·slid·ing.

1. to come down in or as in a landslide.
2. to win an election by an overwhelming majority.

landslide

/ ˈlændˌslaɪd /

noun

1. Also calledlandslip
   1. the sliding of a large mass of rock material, soil, etc, down the side of a mountain or cliff
   2. the material dislodged in this way
2. 1. an overwhelming electoral victory
   2. ( as modifier )

      a landslide win

landslide

/ lănd′slīd′ /

1. The rapid downward sliding of a mass of earth and rock. Landslides usually move over a confined area. Many kinds of events can trigger a landslide, such as the oversteepening of slopes by erosion associated with rivers, glaciers, or ocean waves; heavy snowmelt which saturates soil and rock; or earthquakes that lead to the failure of weak slopes.
2. The mass of soil and rock that moves in this way.

Word History and Origins

Origin of landslide¹

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; land + slide

Example Sentences

The ritual Democratic self-flagellation is calming down a bit as most people finally take a breath and recognize that while the result was a terrible disappointment it was anything but a landslide for Donald Trump, nor was it a crushing rebuke of the Democrats.

From Salon

What we can say, though, is that this was not an electoral landslide, but a narrowly contested race in which Trump is likely to have benefited as much from who didn’t turn out to vote for his candidacy than who did turn out to vote for him.

From Salon

“This landslide happened about 200km inland from the open ocean,” Dr Hicks explained.

From BBC

Scientists say the landslide was caused by rising temperatures in Greenland, which have melted the glacier at the base of the mountain.

From BBC

A massive landslide in a Greenland fjord triggered a wave that “shook the Earth” for nine days.

From BBC

Related Words

• avalanche
• mudslide