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
Why do families argue? may only induce the tumbleweed response. (Could you answer that question out of the blue?).
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
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. a plant that grows in the desert areas of North America and is blown from place to place by the wind. Plant that breaks away from its roots and is driven about by the wind as a light rolling mass, scattering seeds as it goes. Examples include pigweed (Amaranth retroflexus, a widespread weed in the western U.S.) and other amaranths, tumbling mustard, Russian thistle, the steppe plant Colutea arborea, and the grass Spinifex of Indonesian shores and Australian steppes
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