Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A sudden, unexpected piece of good fortune or personal gain.
- n. Something, such as a ripened fruit, that has been blown down by the wind.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Something blown down by the wind, as fruit from a tree, or a number of trees in a forest.
- n. An unexpected piece of good fortune, as an unexpected legacy.
- n. The tract of fallen trees, etc., which shows the path of a tornado.
- n. A violent gust of wind rushing from coast-ranges and mountains to the sea.
- n. The down-rush of air occurring on the leeward side of a hill or mountain at a distance from its base.
- Windfallen.
Wiktionary
- n. Something that has been blown down by the wind.
- n. A fruit that has fallen from a tree naturally, as from wind
- n. figuratively A sudden large benefit; especially an influx of money
GNU Webster's 1913
- 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.
- n. An unexpected legacy, or other gain.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money)
- n. fruit that has fallen from the tree
Etymologies
- wind + fall (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Actually, Obama proposed a rebate of up to $1,000 per family to defray increased heating oil costs, funded by what he calls a windfall profits tax on oil companies.”
Stephen C. Rose: FactCheck.Org Skewers McCain Again for Misrepresenting Obama Tax Positions
“I mean there is a sense of what the -- the idea was, in large part, is that the bill was going to tax what we call windfall profits, profits that are thought to be higher than reasonable on oil companies, and use that money to fund alternative energy.”
“ROBERTS: But Democrats are saying that the companies could avoid these taxes on what they call windfall profits if the oil companies put that money into alternative energy sources.”
“The difference between the two planes is that Senator Clinton wants to slap you with a 50 percent profit on what she calls windfall taxes, you profit above a certain level, not a good idea?”
“In your career, if you're looking forward, a promotion might bring you a short term windfall or growth but it might not take you to the top of the ladder or worse-to the top of the wrong ladder.”
“A.I.G. is seeking $350 million in damages from ICP as well as what it calls a "windfall" made by Moore.”
“Obama proposed a rebate of up to $1,000 per family to defray increased heating oil costs, funded by what he calls a windfall profits tax on oil companies.”
“But I don't think giving financial corporations a huge windfall is the main motive for taxpayer-funded superannuation; it's mostly an ideological thing.”
More on Privatization, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“For the record, I don't think giving financial corporations a huge windfall is the main motive for privatization; it's mostly an ideological thing.”
More on Privatization, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“UK and Australia already becoming stronger than in OTL thanks to the technological windfall from the Trident and the Havock as well as welcome tech transfers from the Zone.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘windfall’.
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(1st_wk_150)-Dec_5_2012
replete, steeped, eminent, indiscriminate, voracious, automaton, prognosticate, technology, abound, matron, tinge, compound and 297 more...
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AGRI - sustainable agriculture
abiota, aborigines, absorptive capacity, acceptable daily ..., acclimation, acid precipitation, acquired by weeds..., active solar heating, acute, adaptation, additives, aerosol and 447 more...
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January 2012
bloviate, pastiche, apparat, facile, paroxysm, pique, bedfellow, pedigree, tutelage, protege, protégé, retroactive and 196 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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Fall
fall, fall in with, fall in love, The Fall, Fallen Angel, fallen angel, nuclear fallout, Things Fall Apart, waterfall, Falling Water, fall apart, falling and 55 more...
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[Uni][verse]
to be used.
windfall, alkahest, tektite, cislunar, conatus, pansophy, universe, macrocosm, perfect storm, star-scattered, cynosure, stellate and 22 more...
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charms
all sorts of ...fortune, gnome, green, chance, luck, gheluc, success, good, spells, hypnotic, prosperity, blessing and 38 more...
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Things that fall
words that end in fall
befall, deadfall, dew-fall, dewfall, downfall, evenfall, foot-fall, footfall, free-fall, freefall, icefall, infall and 18 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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wanderstar's Words
superlative, mulish, mumps, catatonic, aquiline, clandestine, phantasmagoria, chryselephantine, microfiche, mutineer, reprobate, ruthless and 312 more...
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spicolli's Words
terrapin, ravenous, fuck, sepulchral, garlic, suss, queer, curmudgeon, foodie, intricate, omphalos, subversion and 534 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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dyy's Words
ambivalence, irony, double-edged sword, paradox, struggle, plunge, buoy, pigeon-hole, ultimately, status quo, fuel, undermine and 230 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for windfall.
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