Ragweed vs Tumbleweed - What's the difference?
ragweed | tumbleweed |
A plant of the genus Ambrosia . These weeds are particularly noted for producing pollen which people with hay fever are allergic to.
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, , etc.
(attributive) Describing unwanted 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.
* 2000 January 21, "Plsntgrn" in alt.music.progressive, "Re: SOAR Budget (A Long Guestimate)" [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.music.progressive/msg/c5bc2926d0712699]:
* 2005 , Trevor Wright, How to Be a Brilliant English Teacher [http://books.google.com/books?id=5V64WA533MoC], ISBN 041533246X, page 68:
As nouns the difference between ragweed and tumbleweed
is that ragweed is a plant of the genus Ambrosia. These weeds are particularly noted for producing pollen which people with hay fever are allergic to while tumbleweed is 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, species: Amaranthus albus, etc.ragweed
English
(wikipedia ragweed)Noun
(en noun)Derived terms
* great ragweedAnagrams
*tumbleweed
English
Noun
(wikipedia tumbleweed)- Putting an ad in the local paper that Spock's Beard and Arena are in town will get you a tumbleweed response and some wasted revenue.
- "Why do families argue?" may only induce the tumbleweed response. (Could you answer that question out of the blue?)