windfall
Americannoun
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an unexpected gain, piece of good fortune, or the like.
I've recently come into a windfall and am considering early retirement.
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an unexpected positive result or by-product.
The industry’s profits are a windfall of war.
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something blown down by the wind, such as fruit or a tree.
We'll have plenty of firewood for winter, as there are a lot of pine windfalls around.
She has a dozen apple trees, and every day she picks up the windfalls for eating and baking.
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the fall of something blown down by the wind.
The orchard must be sheltered from prevailing winds, as a windfall of peaches too early in the season can be disastrous.
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a quantity or mass of trees blown down by the wind, or an area containing many such trees.
The road was covered by extensive windfall which had to be cut and removed.
adjective
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(of profit or other gain) coming unexpectedly and in a large amount.
One new business relationship can produce tens of thousands of dollars in windfall profits.
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blown down by the wind.
In addition to grain, his free-range chickens eat bugs and windfall fruit.
noun
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a piece of unexpected good fortune, esp financial gain
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something blown down by the wind, esp a piece of fruit
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a plot of land covered with trees blown down by the wind
Etymology
Origin of windfall
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; wind 1 + fall
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Analysts are fine with the consistent spending growth they expect, without projecting a $1.5 trillion windfall.
From Barron's
The proliferation of prediction markets has raised concerns about users making trades using inside information and manipulating markets to score windfalls.
For now, bets against AI giants remain relatively modest, in part because there aren’t as many ways to establish the type of big, bearish wagers that produced windfalls when past investment frenzies ended.
One of these initial bets hit, resulting in a nearly $5,000 windfall.
From MarketWatch
Beecher argued Zambrano could eventually be granted asylum and “receive a real windfall” if the court were to dismiss with prejudice.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
