Landfall

//ˈlænd.fɔl// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An arrival at the shore by a ship, or sighting of the shore from a ship. countable, uncountable

    "We made landfall at the most god-forsaken, barren, desolate, and hellish location possible to image; and we were grateful, anything to get off that ship!"

  2. 2
    the first sighting of land from the sea after a voyage (or flight over water) wordnet
  3. 3
    The point at which a hurricane or similar storm reaches land. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    the seacoast first sighted on a voyage (or flight over water) wordnet
  5. 5
    The first land discovered after a sea voyage. countable, obsolete, uncountable
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  1. 6
    A landslip. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
dockinglandingmooring

Example

More examples

"Typhoon Megi makes landfall in the Philippines."

Etymology

From land + fall.

Related phrases

make landfall

More for "landfall"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.