nuée ardente
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Related to nuée ardente: lahar
eruption of Mt. St. Helens,
Skamania County, Washington
August 7, 1980
nu·ée ar·dente
(no͞o-ā′ ăr-däNt′)n. pl. nuées ardentes (no͞o-āz′ ăr-däNt′)
A fast-moving cloudlike mass consisting of gases, hot ash, and other material ejected from an erupting volcano.
[French : nuée, large cloud, thundercloud (from nue, cloud, high clouds; see nuance) + ardente, feminine of ardent, burning (from Old French ardant; see ardent in Indo-European roots).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
nuée ardente
(ˈnyeɪ ɑːˈdɑ̃t)n
(Geological Science) a rapidly moving turbulent incandescent cloud of gas, ash, and rock fragments flowing close to the ground after violent ejection from a volcano. See also ignimbrite
[C20: from French, literally: burning cloud]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014