Standard Lemma guide

tumbleweed

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtʌmbəlwiːd/
  • General-American: /ˈtʌmbəlˌwid/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iːd

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots once dry, forming a light, rolling mass which is driven by the wind from place to place; as Russian thistle, wild indigo, witch grass, Amaranthus albus, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: roly-poly, steppe-witch, wind-witch

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Describing unwanted silence and inactivity. Often used of a situation when one makes a statement that is ignored or ill-received by one's audience, as the resultant silence is likened to that of a desolate desert with rolling tumbleweeds.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A tan colour, like that of a tumbleweed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

bushy plant of western United States

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Amaranthus albus, Amaranthus graecizans

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: amaranth

5

noun

Meaning 5

bushy annual weed of central North America having greenish flowers and winged seeds

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: winged pigweed, Cycloloma atriplicifolium

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: shrub, bush

6

noun

Meaning 6

prickly bushy Eurasian plant; a troublesome weed in central and western United States

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Russian thistle, Russian tumbleweed, Russian cactus, Salsola kali tenuifolia

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: shrub, bush

7

noun

Meaning 7

any plant that breaks away from its roots in autumn and is driven by the wind as a light rolling mass

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: weed

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English tumble Proto-West Germanic *weud Old English wēod Middle English weed English weed English tumbleweed From tumble + weed.

Across languages

Translations

47 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: حَشِيشَة مُتَدَحْرِجَة — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Azerbaijani: süprüm — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Bashkir: ҡамғаҡ (qamğaq) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Belarusian: перакаці́-по́ле (pjerakací-pólje) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Catalan: estepicursor — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Chinese Mandarin: 風滾草 /风滚草 (fēnggǔncǎo) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Chinese Mandarin: 飛蓬 /飞蓬 (fēipéng) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Danish: vindheks — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Dutch: tuimelkruid — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Dutch: stepperoller — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Erzya: тувомарч (tuvomarč) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Esperanto: rultigaro — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Finnish: arokierijä — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Finnish: aavikkokierijä — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Finnish: maakieriäinen — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • French: virevoltant — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Georgian: ბურბურა (burbura) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • German: Steppenläufer — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • German: Bodenläufer — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • German: Steppenroller — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • German: Bodenroller — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Hungarian: ördögszekér — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Icelandic: veltiviður — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Irish: tom rothlaim — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Italian: rotolacampo — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Japanese: タンブルウィード (tamburuwīdo) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Kalmyk: барванцг (barvantsg) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Korean: 회전초 (hoejeoncho) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Kumyk: къаммакъ (qammaq) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Lithuanian: druskė — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Macedonian: ветрога́н (vetrogán) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Navajo: chʼil awoshí — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Navajo: chʼil deenínii — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Navajo: tłʼohdeii naayizí — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Nogai: камбак (kambak) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Norwegian Bokmål: markløper — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Polish: biegacz — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Portuguese: bola de feno — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Portuguese: salsola — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Russian: перекати́-по́ле (perekatí-póle) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Southern Altai: каҥмыл (kaŋmïl) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Spanish: estepicursor — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Spanish: planta rodadora — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Swedish: marklöpare — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Swedish: stäpplöpare — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Ukrainian: перекоти́по́ле (perekotýpóle) — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind
  • Welsh: chwyn treigl — plant which breaks loose and is driven by the wind