deadfall

Noun

deadfall (countable and uncountable, plural deadfalls)

1. (Canada, US, uncountable) Coarse woody debris; deadwood.
   • Heaver forest growth on the north-facing slopes, together with considerable deadfall and soil cover, makes geologic interpretation there difficult.1967, Calvin S. Bromfield, “Introduction”, in Geology of the Mount Wilson Quadrangle, Western San Juan Mountains, Colorado: […] (Geological Survey Bulletin; 1227), Washington, D.C.: United States...
   1. (Canada, US, countable, specifically) A fallen tree.
      • A fifth negative test pit was excavated near the largest creek at Middle Point. As well, the roots of all deadfalls within the corridor were examined for the presence of cultural material. Deadfalls were more common in the drier areas, especially near stream channels.1988 February, Rachel Joan Dale, J. David McMahan, “Research Methodology and Results”, in Cultural Resources Survey of the Proposed North Douglas Highway Extension, Outer Point to Point Hilda...
      • We should go up to the forest and see if we can find more dry deadfalls. That green wood you were trying to burn last night was all smoke and no heat.2012, Robin Hobb [pseudonym; Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden], City of Dragons (The Rain Wild Chronicles; 3), London: Harper Voyager, →ISBN
2. (Canada, US, countable) A kind of trap for animals, consisting of a heavy board or log that falls on to the prey.
   • It [the wolverine] is so cunning as rarely to enter a deadfall itself, but will carefully pull it to pieces and then eat the bait in safety. I was informed by hunters at Selkirk Settlement that they sometimes lost the successful result of several days' trapping by a single wolverine, which...1859, Robert Kennicott, “The Quadrupeds of Illinois Injurious and Beneficial to the Farmer. [Wolverine, or Glutton.]”, in Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year 1858: Agriculture (House...
   • The beaver trap is a deadfall of considerable weight, nicely adjusted over the animal's road or track, frequently on a dam. […] The animal passing under the deadfall has to step on a little stick raised an inch or two above the ground, and this brings down the deadfall on its back.1876, John J. Rowan, “The Trapper”, in The Emigrant and Sportsman in Canada. […], London: Edward Stanford, […], →OCLC, page 369

   Synonyms:

   deadfall trap

3. (US, countable, slang) A cheap, rough bar or saloon.
   • Dens of the description of the "Tapis Franc," and the "deadfalls" of San Francisco and Sacramento, are now matters of history only, and it seems beyond the bounds of probability that similar haunts of vice, and the brutal and lawless scenes there enacted, will ever again be permitted to disgrace...1873, [John O’Connor], “Wolf-traps—Continued”, in John Morris, editor, Wanderings of a Vagabond. An Autobiography, New York, N.Y.: Published by the author, →OCLC, page 366
   • […] I was an occasional dram-drinker at their saloon. I was never imposed upon by them with bad liquor, nor in any manner cheated there. I did not learn they kept loaded dice, marked cards, or any back-room "deadfall"—to rake the pockets of fuddled or drugged customers.1879 November, C[harles] E[dward] Pickett, Land-gambling versus Mining-gambling. An Open Letter to Squire P. Dewey, Relative to His Participation in the Land-gambling of San Francisco in the Early...

   Synonyms:

   dive