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. 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
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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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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[Uni][verse]
to be used.
windfall, alkahest, tektite, cislunar, conatus, pansophy, universe, macrocosm, perfect storm, star-scattered, cynosure, stellate and 9 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...
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