What does cascade mean?
Word: Cascade
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Cascade means a small waterfall, often one of several dropping down rocks; also anything that falls or hangs in large amounts.
Word origin: Reached English through French in the 1600s.
How do you spell cascade?
Syllables: cas - cade
Tricky part: Both hard sounds are written with c. There is no k anywhere in the word, though students often put one in the middle or at the front.
Watch out for: caskade, kascade
Memory tip: Think of cool, clear water: both hard sounds here are the c of cool and clear.
Cascade in a sentence
Example 1: Water from the hill stream fell in a cascade over the black rocks near Mahabaleshwar.
Example 2: Paper streamers came down in a bright cascade when our team lifted the cup.
Example 3: Orange flowers cascade over the balcony wall of my aunt's house in Pune.
Fun Fact
The Cascade Range, a chain of mountains in western North America, is said to take its name from the cascades on the Columbia River.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
casc_ _ _
a) ayd
b) ade
c) aed
d) aid
Show answer
b) ade. It closes the same way as the words lemonade and parade.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
saceadc
a) water tumbling down a slope in a series of steps
b) a narrow strip of land between two seas
c) a wide flat stretch of grass with few trees
d) a deep hollow in the side of a hill
Show answer
a) water tumbling down a slope in a series of steps. Put in order, these are the letters of cascade, the kind of thing you hear on a rocky hill stream.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option:
Cascade reached English through French. Which language gave French the word?
a) Greek
b) Arabic
c) Russian
d) Italian
Show answer
d) Italian. French took it from Italian cascata, which comes from cascare, to fall.
Sound Check
Which word does not rhyme with cascade?
a) said
b) suede
c) obeyed
d) weighed
Show answer
a) said. Said has a short e sound; the other three share the long ending of the page word.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Hair that falls in a cascade down someone's back is ___.
a) tied in a tight knot
b) hidden under a cap
c) short and spiky
d) long and loose
Show answer
d) long and loose
2. A cascade of messages after the exam results means the messages ___.
a) stopped as soon as they had started
b) arrived by post a week later
c) were sent to just one person
d) came one after another in large numbers
Show answer
d) came one after another in large numbers
