tumbleweed

tumbleweed
/tum"beuhl weed'/, n.
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.
[1885-90, Amer.; TUMBLE + WEED1]

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Plant that breaks away from its roots and is driven about by the wind as a light rolling mass, scattering seeds as it goes.

Examples include pigweed (Amaranth retroflexus, a widespread weed in the western U.S.) and other amaranths, tumbling mustard, Russian thistle, the steppe plant Colutea arborea, and the grass Spinifex of Indonesian shores and Australian steppes.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tumbleweed — Un tumbleweed (Salsola tragus) Le tumbleweed (de l anglais, littéralement « l herbe qui tourne » …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Tumbleweed — Tum ble*weed , n. (Bot.) Any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots in the autumn, and is driven by the wind, as a light, rolling mass, over the fields and prairies; as witch grass, wild indigo, {Amarantus albus}, etc. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tumbleweed — also tumble weed, 1887, from TUMBLE (Cf. tumble) + WEED (Cf. weed) …   Etymology dictionary

  • tumbleweed — ► NOUN N. Amer. & Austral./NZ ▪ a plant of dry regions which breaks off near the ground in late summer, forming light masses blown about by the wind …   English terms dictionary

  • tumbleweed — ☆ tumbleweed [tum′bəl wēd΄ ] n. any of a number of plants, as the pigweed or Russian thistle, that break off near the ground in autumn and are blown about by the wind …   English World dictionary

  • tumbleweed — 1. noun Any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots in the autumn, and is driven by the wind, as a light, rolling mass, over the fields and prairies; as witch grass, wild indigo, Amaranthus albus, etc. 2. adjective Describing unwonted… …   Wiktionary

  • tumbleweed — This is said in those awkward situations in a conversation when there is a period of silence. In old western films, a blowing tumblweed was used as a sign of boredom or lack of action. When a conversation turns to silence, say Tumbleweed to break …   Dictionary of american slang

  • tumbleweed — This is said in those awkward situations in a conversation when there is a period of silence. In old western films, a blowing tumblweed was used as a sign of boredom or lack of action. When a conversation turns to silence, say Tumbleweed to break …   Dictionary of american slang

  • Tumbleweed — Dieser Artikel oder Abschnitt ist nicht hinreichend mit Belegen (Literatur, Webseiten oder Einzelnachweisen) versehen. Die fraglichen Angaben werden daher möglicherweise demnächst gelöscht. Hilf Wikipedia, indem du die Angaben recherchierst und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • tumbleweed — [[t]tʌ̱mb(ə)lwiːd[/t]] N UNCOUNT Tumbleweed is a plant that grows in desert areas in North America. It breaks off from its roots at the end of its life and then blows around on the ground. [AM] …   English dictionary

  • tumbleweed — baltasis burnotis statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Burnotinių šeimos vaistinis augalas (Amaranthus albus), paplitęs Šiaurės Amerikoje. atitikmenys: lot. Amaranthus albus angl. tumble pigweed; tumbleweed; white amaranth šaltinis Valstybinės… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

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