Definition of "deadfall" [deadfall]

• A trap for large animals in which a heavy weight is arranged to fall on and kill or disable the prey. (noun)
• A mass of fallen timber and tangled brush. (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.

• "But in heavy snow, when deadfall is buried and wet, a fire can be hard to spark and difficult to maintain."
• "But what made folks really nuts was when I didn't do this for the eider duck fall, and people complained of various things -- that the pacing was off, that they didn't like the duck, that the deadfall was a trap."
• "The deadfall was a big one, maybe two feet in diameter."