• Cascade

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /kæsˈkeɪd/
    • Rhymes: -eɪd

    Origin

    French cascade, from Italian cascata, from cascare ("to fall")

    Full definition of cascade

    Noun

    cascade

    (plural cascades)
    1. A waterfall or series of small waterfalls.
      • CowperNow murm'ring soft, now roaring in cascade.
      • LongfellowThe silver brook ... pours the white cascade.
    2. (figuratively) A stream or sequence of a thing or things occurring as if falling like a cascade.The rise in serotonin levels sets off a cascade of chemical events — Richard M. Restak, The Secret Life of the Brain, Joseph Henry Press, 2001
    3. A series of electrical (or other types of) components, the output of any one being connected to the input of the next; See also daisy chain
    4. (juggling) A pattern typically performed with an odd number of props, where each prop is caught by the opposite hand.
    5. (Internet) A sequence of absurd short messages posted to a newsgroup by different authors, each one responding to the most recent message and quoting the entire sequence to that point (with ever-increasing indentation).
      • 1993, "e.j.barker", Disassociation (on Internet newsgroup alt.slack)Don't you hate cascades? I hate cascades!
      • 1999, "Anonymous", CYBERLIAR SCAVENGER HUNT 1999 (on Internet newsgroup alt.test)Spark a usenet cascade of no less than 300 replies.
      • 2004, "swt", ARRR! (on Internet newsgroup alt.religion.kibology)Anyway. I didn't mean to say that everyone who posts URLs is bad and wrong and should lose their breathing privileges. Just that I was getting weary of look-at-this-link posts, sort of like some people get sick of cascades.

    Derived terms

    Verb

    1. (intransitive) To fall as a waterfall or series of small waterfalls.
    2. (transitive) To arrange in a stepped series like a waterfall.
      • 2001, Greg M Perry, Sams teach yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 hoursNo matter how you tile or cascade the windows, each window's Minimize, Maximize, and Restore buttons work as usual.
    3. To occur as a causal sequence.
    4. (archaic, slang) To vomit.

    Anagrams

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