tumbleweed

[tuhm-buhl-weed]

noun

1. any of various plants, as Amaranthus albus, A. graecizans, or the Russian thistle, Salsola kali, whose branching upper parts become detached from the roots and are driven about by the wind.

tumbleweed

/ ˈtʌmbəlˌwiːd /

noun

1. any densely branched plant that breaks off near the ground on withering and is rolled about by the wind, esp one of several amaranths of the western US and Australia

Word History and Origins

Origin of tumbleweed¹

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; tumble + weed ¹

Example Sentences

L.A. was a tumbleweed boomtown whose population had doubled in one decade and quintupled in the next, morphing from village to metropolis in a generation.

From Los Angeles Times

But a rival campaigner now calls them the "tumbleweed Tories", claiming they're nowhere to be seen on the ground.

From BBC

"We came through the airport and it was like tumbleweed," McIntosh says.

From BBC

Rust depicts the manhunt for grandfather and grandson amidst a backdrop of snow-capped mountains and tumbleweed dirt towns.

From BBC

On the ground, amid the sagebrush and tumbleweeds, are a few old barracks, a weathered wooden fence strung with barbed wire and a wind-battered guard tower.

From Los Angeles Times