thistledown

American  

[this-uhl-doun] / ˈθɪs əlˌdaʊn /

noun

1. the mature, silky pappus of a thistle.

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thistledown British  

/ ˈθɪsəlˌdaʊn /

noun

1. the mass of feathery plumed seeds produced by a thistle

2. anything resembling this

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Etymology

Origin of thistledown

First recorded in 1555–65; thistle + down ²

Example Sentences

So that the old terror, of exclusion — or abandonment perhaps — didn’t trouble us, any more than the thistledown troubled us whirling softly off the vegetation by the water.

From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2022

He must finish knitting the thistledown shirts for his brothers or they would be stuck as swans forever.

From Washington Post • Jul. 21, 2017

A mysterious combo of wit, poise, and self-deprecation, Gerry’s charm was like thistledown, floating away whenever you try to snag it and dissect it.

From Slate • Mar. 22, 2015

There was a light-blue morning wind blowing and thistledown flying loose along the tops of the clouds and larks going up and down, up and down, in the shining lift of the sky.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 29, 2010

And for the first time, Will and Lyra thought they could see those things, like veils of shimmering gauze, falling from the sky like thistledown.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman