tumbleweed

noun

tum·​ble·​weed ˈtəm-bəl-ˌwēd 

: a plant (such as Russian thistle or any of several amaranths) that breaks away from its roots in the autumn and is driven about by the wind as a light rolling mass

Examples of tumbleweed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Daniel: With the tumbleweeds piled and the field cleared, Dan and his group of mighty volunteers began turning this patch of land back into a baseball diamond. —Ari Daniel, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Apr. 2025

When tangled together, the strands look like tumbleweeds. —Sara Schilling, Sacramento Bee, 28 Jan. 2025

So Blain-Cruz’s stage—lushly designed by Adam Rigg with tendrils of Spanish moss and a wraparound coastal pool—is set for a showdown as surely as if there were tumbleweeds blowing across it. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024

Here in the dry desert, among the saguaro cactuses and tumbleweeds, investigators found a different culprit: Rhipicephalus sanguineus, commonly known as the brown dog tick, a species that thrives on the reservation. —Pien Huang, NPR, 15 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1858, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tumbleweed

• aniseed
• centipede
• cottonseed
• disagreed
• ganymede
• guaranteed
• intercede
• overspeed
• pedigreed
• refereed
• supercede
• supersede

Kids Definition

tumbleweed

noun

tum·​ble·​weed ˈtəm-bəl-ˌwēd 

: a plant that breaks away from its roots in autumn and is blown about by the wind