landfall
noun
land·fall
ˈlan(d)-ˌfȯl 
1
: a sighting of land after a voyage or flight
2
: a reaching of land (as by a traveler, craft, or storm)
3
: the land first sighted on a voyage or flight
Examples of landfall in a Sentence
From the deck of the boat, we saw our first landfall.
Recent Examples on the Web
Imelda is expected to track much closer to Bermuda than Humberto, with the potential for a direct landfall, sustained winds of more than 74 mph and higher gusts, and up to 4 inches of rain Wednesday into Thursday.
—
Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
Only storms with names that formed after the year 2000 and that are within 50 miles of the potential landfall location are shown.
—William B. Davis, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
With Typhoon Ragasa’s landfall in South China last week grounding hundreds of flights in the region, the air cargo capacity crunch briefly sent rates skyrocketing on the Asia-to-Europe trade lane.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 29 Sep. 2025
Some take the system into the Carolinas for landfall and others see it getting drawn out to sea by the more powerful Hurricane Humberto, which is only a few hundred miles west of the system.
—Alex Harris
updated September 26, Miami Herald, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for landfall
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
Only storms with names that formed after the year 2000 and that are within 50 miles of the potential landfall location are shown.
—William B. Davis, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
With Typhoon Ragasa’s landfall in South China last week grounding hundreds of flights in the region, the air cargo capacity crunch briefly sent rates skyrocketing on the Asia-to-Europe trade lane.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 29 Sep. 2025
Some take the system into the Carolinas for landfall and others see it getting drawn out to sea by the more powerful Hurricane Humberto, which is only a few hundred miles west of the system.
—Alex Harris
updated September 26, Miami Herald, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for landfall
Cite this Entry
“Landfall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/landfall. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
landfall
noun
land·fall
ˈlan(d)-ˌfȯl
1
: a sighting or making of land after a voyage or flight
2
: the land first sighted on a voyage or flight
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share