AVULSION (Lat. avulsio, a tearing off), the forcible separa tion of a considerable portion of land from the property of one owner and its deposit on the soil of another, caused by the me chanical action of water due to flood, change in the course of a river or the encroachment of the sea. The property thus separated belongs to the original owner, who is entitled to recover its pos session. (See ACCRETION ; ALLUVION. )