Tumbleweed
noun
A dry plant that rolls across the ground in desert areas when the wind blows.
As the wind blew, a tumbleweed rolled across the deserted road in the western town.
Often appears as...
- rolling tumbleweed
- tumbleweed crossing
noun
Used to refer to a situation in which nothing is happening or changing.
He asked if there were any other questions, but there was only tumbleweed.
Often appears as...
- only tumbleweed
- metaphorical tumbleweed
Usage tips
Informal, Disapproving
Colloquial
noun
A dry plant that rolls across the ground in desert areas when the wind blows.
As the wind blew, a tumbleweed rolled across the deserted road in the western town.
Often appears as...
- rolling tumbleweed
- tumbleweed crossing
noun
Used to refer to a situation in which nothing is happening or changing.
He asked if there were any other questions, but there was only tumbleweed.
Often appears as...
- only tumbleweed
- metaphorical tumbleweed
Usage tips
Informal, Disapproving
Colloquial
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Desert Imagery
Tumbleweed commonly represents desolate or uncultivated places; imagine vast, empty deserts.
Movies set in the Wild West often show tumbleweeds to emphasize the desolate landscape.
Pro Tip 2/3Western Symbol
Tumbleweed symbolizes the Western United States; it can evoke themes of exploration and cowboy life.
Tumbleweeds are iconic in Westerns, emphasizing the rough, adventurous setting of the genre.
Pro Tip 3/3Wind Movement
Tumbleweeds move when the wind blows; they're a vivid example of wind's power in storytelling.
The author described tumbleweeds tumbling past to show how windy the plain was.
Pro Tip 1/3Desert Imagery
Tumbleweed commonly represents desolate or uncultivated places; imagine vast, empty deserts.
Movies set in the Wild West often show tumbleweeds to emphasize the desolate landscape.
Pro Tip 2/3Western Symbol
Tumbleweed symbolizes the Western United States; it can evoke themes of exploration and cowboy life.
Tumbleweeds are iconic in Westerns, emphasizing the rough, adventurous setting of the genre.
Pro Tip 3/3Wind Movement
Tumbleweeds move when the wind blows; they're a vivid example of wind's power in storytelling.
The author described tumbleweeds tumbling past to show how windy the plain was.
Pro Tip 1/3Desert Imagery
Tumbleweed commonly represents desolate or uncultivated places; imagine vast, empty deserts.
Movies set in the Wild West often show tumbleweeds to emphasize the desolate landscape.
Pro Tip 2/3Western Symbol
Tumbleweed symbolizes the Western United States; it can evoke themes of exploration and cowboy life.
Tumbleweeds are iconic in Westerns, emphasizing the rough, adventurous setting of the genre.
Pro Tip 3/3Wind Movement
Tumbleweeds move when the wind blows; they're a vivid example of wind's power in storytelling.
The author described tumbleweeds tumbling past to show how windy the plain was.
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Video examples
A practical way to help...
I don't know if you've ever weighed a tumbleweed, but they don't weigh much, so you can imagine the volume of material that we've picked up. My city has 6,000 employees, and none better than my solid waste department. We send our trucks out at the end of the day,
Video examples
The Weed That Won the...
next to another tumbleweed on offense I think for me it was problematic that not all tumbleweeds are interesting looking mmm and so I was really searching out
Video examples
A practical way to help...
I don't know if you've ever weighed a tumbleweed, but they don't weigh much, so you can imagine the volume of material that we've picked up. My city has 6,000 employees, and none better than my solid waste department. We send our trucks out at the end of the day,
Video examples
The Weed That Won the...
next to another tumbleweed on offense I think for me it was problematic that not all tumbleweeds are interesting looking mmm and so I was really searching out
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Stanley A. McChrystal
American Footballer
If who you were was entirely based upon the position you were in or the headlines you got in the newspaper, or you had essentially subcontracted out your self-worth to the judgments of others, then you're going to be like tumbleweed. You're going to be blown.
Quote examples
Antoine Predock
American Architect
The legendary tumbleweed is really a nurse crop that protects the growth of prairie grasses under its shade, and then it sacrifices itself and blows away.
Quote examples
Edward M. Lerner
American Author
Too much detail can bog down any story. Enough with the history of gunpowder, the geology of Hawaii, the processes of whaling, and cactus and tumbleweed.
Quote examples
Bennett Miller
American Director
I am a tumbleweed. I don't have a company. I don't have a staff. I don't own anything - I've never owned a car or an apartment.
Quote examples
Stanley A. McChrystal
American Footballer
If who you were was entirely based upon the position you were in or the headlines you got in the newspaper, or you had essentially subcontracted out your self-worth to the judgments of others, then you're going to be like tumbleweed. You're going to be blown.
Quote examples
Antoine Predock
American Architect
The legendary tumbleweed is really a nurse crop that protects the growth of prairie grasses under its shade, and then it sacrifices itself and blows away.
Quote examples
Edward M. Lerner
American Author
Too much detail can bog down any story. Enough with the history of gunpowder, the geology of Hawaii, the processes of whaling, and cactus and tumbleweed.
Quote examples
Bennett Miller
American Director
I am a tumbleweed. I don't have a company. I don't have a staff. I don't own anything - I've never owned a car or an apartment.
Example 1 of 4
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