Noun

1. A sudden whirlwind or downpour of leaves.
   • 1903, Caroline Brown, On the We-a Trail: A Story of the Great Wilderness http://books.google.com/books?id=cAcnAAAAMAAJ, page 1:

   THE leaf-storm was ended. The sky was washed clear of every cloud and hung blue and brilliant above a little clearing in the Great Wilderness.

   • 1910, Houghton Townley, English Woodlands and Their Story http://books.google.com/books?id=nxYPBVYqOEQC, page 129:

   Passers-by stop and watch; children run into the zone of the leaf-storm and in a few minutes are covered. For hours the beech tree weeps.

   • 1928, Mary Chapman as "Maristan Chapman", The Happy Mountain http://books.google.com/books?id=DM2QhbJDD4wC, page 119:

   One night, when the man had been making it sing like a leaf-storm in fall, ...

   • 1982, Peter Straub, If You See Me Now http://books.google.com/books?id=y7_6lyd7F9EC, ISBN 0671451936, page 320:

   Through the leafstorm I ran toward her. She had fallen on the path, and a shower of small branches and stones came cascading down upon her.

   • 1998, Charles William Smith, Understanding Women: A Novel http://books.google.com/books?id=jiu_h8X0xzUC, ISBN 0875651895, page 276:

   Do it!, stir up your energy until it's swirling around like a leaf storm inside your body.

Usage notes

Dictionary notes

• American Heritage Dictionary (via answers.com), Collins Word Exchange, Merriam-Webster Online and MSN Encarta Dictionary all have no entry.
• Scholars of literary translation such as Balderston & Schwartz (Voice-Overs http://books.google.com/books?id=Q_buVGut8X4C, ISBN 0791455297, page 158) have criticized the choice of this translation as "tropicalizing" the novel by using a construction which is uncommon and exotic in English.