windfall

CEFRC1

/ˈwɪnd.fɔːl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An unexpected amount of money or other valuable benefit.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A fruit that has fallen from a tree naturally, as from wind.

Examples

  • The corporation saw windfall profits this year.

  • The unexpected windfall has put my brother and his wife on easy street.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /ˈwɪnd.fo(ː)l/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The act of something being blown down by wind.

  2. Something that has been blown down by the wind.

  3. A sudden large benefit; especially, a sudden or unexpected large amount of money, as from lottery or sweepstakes winnings or an unexpected inheritance or gift.

More examples

In context

  • They couldn't reach the branches, so they ate the windfalls.

  • The danger from windfall is greatest to trees developed in dense stands, which are tall and have slender stems, and increases with the age of the stand.

  • Businessmen rushed to get every last commodity aboard a departing ship, hoping for a windfall once the world realized these would be the very last sacks of flour available, thus driving up prices.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After the rich uncle died, the family received a huge blank of money.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English windfal, wyndfall, equivalent to wind + fall. Cognate with Middle High German wintval, wintfal, German Windfall.