Definition of "windfall" []

• A sudden, unexpected piece of good fortune or personal gain. (noun)
• Something, such as a ripened fruit, that has been blown down by the wind. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "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."
• "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."