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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A sudden, unexpected piece of good fortune or personal gain.
  2. n. Something, such as a ripened fruit, that has been blown down by the wind.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Something blown down by the wind, as fruit from a tree, or a number of trees in a forest.
  2. n. An unexpected piece of good fortune, as an unexpected legacy.
  3. n. The tract of fallen trees, etc., which shows the path of a tornado.
  4. n. A violent gust of wind rushing from coast-ranges and mountains to the sea.
  5. n. The down-rush of air occurring on the leeward side of a hill or mountain at a distance from its base.
  6. Windfallen.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Something that has been blown down by the wind.
  2. n. A fruit that has fallen from a tree naturally, as from wind
  3. n. a sudden large benefit; especially an influx of money

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Anything blown down or off by the wind, as fruit from a tree, or the tree itself, or a portion of a forest prostrated by a violent wind, etc.
  2. n. An unexpected legacy, or other gain.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money)
  2. n. fruit that has fallen from the tree

Examples

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Comments

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  • bilby "We be no windfals my Lord; ye must gather us with the ladder of matrimony, or we'l hang till we be rotten. Mons. Indeed that's the way to make ye right openarses... Farewell riddle. Gui. Farewell Medlar."
    - 'Bussy d'Ambois III', G. Chapman, 1607.
    Dec 14, 2007

  • misterpolly Also a piece of unexpected good luck, like winning money in a lottery or inheriting. Dec 13, 2007

‘windfall’ has been looked up 1648 times, loved by 3 people, added to 27 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 15.