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tumbleweed

tumbleweed

15 6.5
A dry plant that breaks off and rolls in the wind
  • noun
  • /ˈtʌmbəlˌwiːd/
translation icon : planta rodadora
  • One Hanford study found that local tumbleweeds drew contamination from this contaminated soil up into the stems of the plants.
  • tumbleweed rolled
  • tumbleweed blowing
  • tumbleweed tumbling

So in the desert, tumbleweeds have a tendency to roll because the wind rolls them.

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Examples

  • Behind him, the Dodge Ram pickup lies hidden in a growth of scrub oak and tumbleweeds.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • So in the desert, tumbleweeds have a tendency to roll because the wind rolls them.

  • Annie watched a ball of tumbleweed chase its own shadow down the road toward them.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Frequently, a tumbleweed rolled across the roadway in front of her.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The afternoon wind blew dust and tumbleweeds across the cracked concrete.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Adrian half-expected to see a tumbleweed rolling down the street.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The wind blew so strongly that the seaweed whipped loose and rolled down the beach like tumbleweeds.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • In the morning dark, we hear winter wind ignoring calendars, arriving on a whim, flinging tumbleweeds down the road.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Tumbleweeds collected along the fencerows and dirt drifted against the tumbleweeds until they almost covered the fences.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • As the wind picked up, a large tumbleweed rolled across the empty road.

Synonyms

Salsola kali tenuifolia
vstumbleweed
  • Specialized
9.9

A prickly bushy plant like a round tumbleweed that grows in dry areas and damages crops

is the general dry-region plant that detaches and rolls when mature
Russian tumbleweed
vstumbleweed
  • US
9.3

A prickly bush that breaks off and rolls in the wind across dry land

is the general dry-region plant that detaches and rolls when mature

Compounds

A prickly bush that breaks off and rolls in the wind across dry land

9.2

A long awkward silence after something embarrassing

How Invasive

invasive
  • Specialized
1 4.8
tumbleweed
15 6.5
weed
187 1.0
wildling
8.2
garden plant
1 1.0

Surface Forms

tumbleweed singular
tumbleweeds plural

Morphology

tumbleweed = tumble + weed (transparent) = tumble + weed

A literal compound: a 'weed' that 'tumbles' (rolls away), so the components directly predict the meaning.

Etymology

The word tumbleweed is made of two simple words, tumble ('to roll') and weed ('a wild plant'). So a tumbleweed is a plant that breaks free and rolls across dry land when the wind blows.