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 its allure is being winnowed away by the noxious Russian thistle, the spread of which is entirely the fault of the ceaseless and unforgiving prairie wind.
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.
