Brewer's: Windfall

Unexpected legacy; money which has come de coelo. Some of the English nobility were forbidden by the tenure of their estates to fell timber, all the trees being reserved for the use of the Royal Navy. Those trees, however, which were blown down were excepted, and hence a good wind was often a great godsend.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content