Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sudden, unexpected piece of good fortune or financial gain.
  • noun Something, such as a ripened fruit, that has been blown down by the wind.
  • adjective Of or relating to a windfall.

from The Century Dictionary.

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

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun 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.
  • noun An unexpected legacy, or other gain.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money)
  • noun fruit that has fallen from the tree

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

wind +‎ fall

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Examples

Comments

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

    December 14, 2007

  • "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.

    December 15, 2007