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thistledown

[ this-uhl-doun ]

noun

  1. the mature, silky pappus of a thistle.


thistledown

/ ˈθɪsəlˌdaʊn /

noun

  1. the mass of feathery plumed seeds produced by a thistle
  2. anything resembling this
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of thistledown1

First recorded in 1555–65; thistle + down 2
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Example Sentences

He's spent hours weaving weeds and thistledown in the milky moonlight, spinning her into existence.

So that the old terror, of exclusion — or abandonment perhaps — didn’t trouble us, any more than the thistledown troubled us whirling softly off the vegetation by the water.

And I, with only the thistledown of childish care upon me, would listen lightly and take up my pencil again.

The creosote fruit and the female D. gloriosa, also called the thistledown velvet ant — which is a wasp, not an ant — are near perfect doppelgängers.

Her silence was so complete, her gentleness so apparent, that the residents would crawl from their nests of thistledown and dandelion fluff to join her.

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