Russian thistle
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of Russian thistle
An Americanism dating back to 1890–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But Russian thistle is a monstrous piece of botanical grotesquerie, loathed by all.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025
Saturday’s tumbleweed takeover of South Jordan is not isolated, but it’s also not a fiendish plan by the invasive Russian thistle to conquer the western United States.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2024
The exhibit includes an actual tumbleweed, or Russian thistle, a plant immigrants brought to South Dakota in 1873.
From Washington Times • Apr. 17, 2016
He noted with dismay invasive plants left behind by overgrazing: tumbleweed, Russian thistle, cheatgrass.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 14, 2016
A southeast wind hurled tumble weeds and Russian thistle through the air at a twenty-nine-mile gait, and the gait went too.
From The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 4 June 1906 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
