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deadfall

American  
[ded-fawl] / ˈdɛdˌfɔl /

noun

  1. a trap, especially for large game, in which a weight falls on and crushes the prey.

  2. a mass of brush and fallen trees.

deadfall British  
/ ˈdɛdˌfɔːl /

noun

  1. Also called: downfall.  a type of trap, used esp for catching large animals, in which a heavy weight falls to crush the prey

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of deadfall

First recorded in 1605–15; dead + 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.

Two hours drive away, we reach the Deadfall Hills.

From BBC • May 19, 2025

Deadfall is a particularly thorny problem, and the club’s latter-day lumberjacks head out with chain saws in tow to remove trees upward of 4 feet in diameter.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 15, 2023

Deadfall suggests that the cat-burglar genre may have only 998 lives.

From Time Magazine Archive

This last act has left the old man utterly alone; yet he is seen even more frequently than before at the "Deadfall."

From Shadows of Shasta by Miller, Joaquin

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.