thistledown

American  

[this-uhl-doun] / ˈθɪs əlˌdaʊn /

noun

1. the mature, silky pappus of a thistle.

---

thistledown British  

/ ˈθɪsəlˌdaʊn /

noun

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

2. anything resembling this

---

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

The creosote fruit and the female D. gloriosa, also called the thistledown velvet ant — which is a wasp, not an ant — are near perfect doppelgängers.

From New York Times

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

From Washington Post

Not only does Novikova retain a more modest purity of line throughout the turning arabesques, but her jumps are more like drifting thistledown, and the luminous shape of her arms more beautifully sustained.

From The Guardian

Lunch was waiting for herself; but for that thistledown what was waiting?

From Project Gutenberg