1
: a trap so constructed that a weight (such as a heavy log) falls on an animal and kills or disables it
2
: a tangled mass of fallen trees and branches
Examples of deadfall in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Scout Island, on the north side of the park, is particularly riven through with odd trails and random stick deadfalls.
—
Outside, 17 Feb. 2026
Meanwhile, the entire West was on fire, trails already choked with deadfall from decades-ago blazes even as new ones torched millions more acres every season.
—Literary Hub, 22 Dec. 2025
After spending the morning clearing deadfall, the crew was returning to their vehicles at the pace of the creeper machine, a mini excavator that can plow a new path through difficult terrain.
—Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 20 Oct. 2025
And that’s the real danger when the trail is wet—climbing over, under, or around fresh deadfall when going downhill on slippery ground.
—Grayson Haver Currin, Outside Online, 20 June 2025
Furthermore, areas with a lot of deadfall timber tends to have an opened canopy, which promotes regrowth, effectively providing some food sources within the bedding area.
—Josh Honeycutt, Outdoor Life, 20 Mar. 2025
Winding roads diving deep between steep hillsides littered with jagged deadfall and boulder-size talus, towns few and far between.
—New Atlas, 27 Dec. 2024
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Outside, 17 Feb. 2026
Meanwhile, the entire West was on fire, trails already choked with deadfall from decades-ago blazes even as new ones torched millions more acres every season.
—Literary Hub, 22 Dec. 2025
After spending the morning clearing deadfall, the crew was returning to their vehicles at the pace of the creeper machine, a mini excavator that can plow a new path through difficult terrain.
—Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 20 Oct. 2025
And that’s the real danger when the trail is wet—climbing over, under, or around fresh deadfall when going downhill on slippery ground.
—Grayson Haver Currin, Outside Online, 20 June 2025
Furthermore, areas with a lot of deadfall timber tends to have an opened canopy, which promotes regrowth, effectively providing some food sources within the bedding area.
—Josh Honeycutt, Outdoor Life, 20 Mar. 2025
Winding roads diving deep between steep hillsides littered with jagged deadfall and boulder-size talus, towns few and far between.
—New Atlas, 27 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Deadfall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deadfall. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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