leaf-fall

leaf-fall (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of leaffall
   • 2021 November 17, Philip Haigh, “Finding answers to low adhesion remains a high priority”, in RAIL, number 944, page 50:

     The report summary said: "The investigation found that there was contamination of the railhead in the area caused by leaf-fall and atmospheric conditions. [...]."

In practice, the form "leaf fall", without hyphen, seems to be more common. For example, the phrase "the leaf fall season" is less likely to be written as "the leaf-fall season".

• “leaf-fall”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.