tumbleweed

American  

[tuhm-buhl-weed] / ˈtʌm bəlˌwid /

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.

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tumbleweed British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of tumbleweed

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

Example Sentences

Before we came to live at the Ranch, Mom and I were like tumbleweeds.

From Literature

In a spot that AT&T introduced in October, actor Luke Wilson pulls a newspaper out of a tumbleweed and reads, “T-Mobile most challenged for deceptive ads.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The American West is in the grip of a tumbleweed takeover.

From The Wall Street Journal

West Texas is dotted with tumbleweeds, underutilized oil and gas infrastructure and ranches.

From The Wall Street Journal

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