Russian tumbleweed
- noun
- /ˈrʌʃən ˈtʌmbɪlwiːd/
- US
:
tumbleweed ruso
- The Russian tumbleweed quickly took over large areas of farmland, making it difficult to cultivate crops.
Examples
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Many western movies feature scenes with a Russian tumbleweed rolling across the dusty landscape.
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Farmers in Texas often battle Russian tumbleweed infestations.
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As autumn winds picked up, clusters of Russian tumbleweeds blew across the deserted highway.
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The Russian tumbleweed rolled across the empty road.
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As autumn winds picked up, clusters of Russian tumbleweeds blew across the deserted highway.
-
Many western movies feature scenes with a Russian tumbleweed rolling across the dusty landscape.
-
Farmers in Texas often battle Russian tumbleweed infestations.
Synonyms
A prickly bushy plant like a round tumbleweed that grows in dry areas and damages crops
A spiky bush that breaks off and tumbles across dry fields in the wind
A prickly bushy plant from Europe and Asia that grows wild and causes problems as a weed
How Invasive
- Specialized
1
4.8
- US
15
6.5
187
1.0
1
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'Russian' marks origin/association with Russia and 'tumbleweed' names a rolling plant, so together they denote a tumbleweed species associated with Russia. This adjective+noun composition is a regular, compositional pattern common across languages and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Russian tumbleweed is named for a plant from Russia and nearby lands that dries and then breaks off at the base so the whole bush can roll away. The round, prickly bush tumbles across fields in the wind, scattering seeds and causing big weed problems, so the name now means a prickly bush that 'tumbles' and spreads itself across the land.