tumbleweed
English
a tumbleweed, Salsola sp.
Etymology
tumble + weed
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtʌmbəlwiːd/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtʌmbəlˌwid/
- Rhymes: -iːd
Noun
tumbleweed (countable and uncountable, plural tumbleweeds)
- Any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots in the autumn, and is driven by the wind, as a light, rolling mass, over the fields and prairies; as Russian thistle, witch grass, wild indigo, Amaranthus albus, etc.
- (attributive) Describing unwanted silence and inactivity. Often used of a situation when one makes a statement that is ignored or ill-received by one's audience, as the resultant silence is likened to that of a desolate desert with rolling tumbleweeds.
- 2000 January 21, “Plsntgrn”, in alt.music.progressive:
- Putting an ad in the local paper that Spock's Beard and Arena are in town will get you a tumbleweed response and some wasted revenue.
- 2005, Trevor Wright, How to Be a Brilliant English Teacher, →ISBN, page 68:
- “Why do families argue?” may only induce the tumbleweed response. (Could you answer that question out of the blue?)
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- A tan colour, like that of a tumbleweed.
- tumbleweed:
Derived terms
- tumbleweed moment
Translations
plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
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Further reading
tumbleweed on Wikipedia.Wikipedia