tumbleweed

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.
Describing unwonted silence and inactivity. Often used of a situation when one makes a statement that is ignored or ill-received from one’s audience. Gives the impression that a tumbleweed has passed through the room, as the resultant silence is likened to that of a desolate desert.

Putting an ad in the local paper that Spocks Beard and Arena are in town will get you a tumbleweed response and some wasted revenue.


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  • 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 — 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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