# What exactly is "windblown town"?I can't find a definition for "windblown" in this context. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731 "2015-06-28T20:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/1 "2015-06-28T20:05:15Z")
Hi What exactly is “windblown town”?I can’t find a definition for “windblown” in this context. I always thought of it as a deserted town. All the definition I find online for windblown give me: 1. (of trees, shrubs, etc.) growing in a shape determined by the prevailing winds 2. NZ (of trees) felled by the wind 3.Similar: crooked (having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned) 4.(of a hair style) bobbed short, with the ends combed toward the forehead. I look forward to your feedback. davidmich ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/2 "2015-06-28T20:19:46Z")
Merriam Webster also gives “made messy by the wind.” Without the full context it’s a little hard to say, but it’s probably being used figuratively to give a sense of a desolate town with the wind blowing though its streets, perhaps with old newspapers and trash blowing about. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/3 "2015-06-28T20:20:48Z")
It’s a town where a prominent climactic condition is lots of wind. Another way to express it is that the wind always seems to be blowing. Typically such towns don’t have many (or any) tall buildings that would block the wind. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/4 "2015-06-28T20:30:19Z")
Metaphorically my minds eye image of a “windblown town” is one that is small, sparsely populated, not doing well economically, and subject to a somewhat harsh environment wind, desert, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/5 "2015-06-28T20:34:27Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Metaphorically my minds eye image of a “windblown town” is one that is small, sparsely populated, not doing well economically, and subject to a somewhat harsh environment wind, desert, etc. This is the image I get. With tumbleweeds. (You should have _seen_ the tumbleweeds piled up against fences with the wind blew especially heavy in Summer! :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/6 "2015-06-28T20:57:08Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > It’s a town where a prominent climactic condition is lots of wind. Another way to express it is that the wind always seems to be blowing. Typically such towns don’t have many (or any) tall buildings that would block the wind. Actually, tall buildings _create_ wind. Between thermal conduction and plain old funnel effect (any breeze is forced to the spaces between the buildings). the high-rise section of town is often the gustiest. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/7 "2015-06-28T22:00:21Z")
Are you sure you’re not thinking of flyblown (dirty & rundown)? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/8 "2015-06-28T22:12:30Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Actually, tall buildings _create_ wind. Between thermal conduction and plain old funnel effect (any breeze is forced to the spaces between the buildings). the high-rise section of town is often the gustiest. “Gee, Superman, you’re sure a mean drunk.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/9 "2015-06-28T22:30:41Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > “Gee, Superman, you’re sure a mean drunk.” 😃 An oldie, but a goodie. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/10 "2015-06-29T00:19:46Z")
A dust devil danced down the street Gathered the trash in a heap Like a gift it just fell at my feet All windblown —Kimmie Rhodes, “Windblown” ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/11 "2015-06-29T01:15:22Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Hi > > What exactly is “windblown town”?I can’t find a definition for “windblown” in this context. I always thought of it as a deserted town. Why don’t you give us the context? Is it from an article, a book, a poem? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/12 "2015-06-29T01:39:23Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > Are you sure you’re not thinking of flyblown (dirty & rundown)? This was my first thought as well, and the meaning of ‘flyblown’ is grosser than that BTW. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/13 "2015-06-29T02:39:40Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Why don’t you give us the context? Is it from an article, a book, a poem? I’m wondering this, too, because I just did a quick corpus search in COCA and it’s actually not a very common collocation. Most frequent collocations in fiction are _windblown hair, sand, snow, dust, leaves, dirt, grass_, but _town_ isn’t in the top 100. There is a magazine description referring to Topeka as a _windblown city_; a reference (in NPR) that “Garcia Marquez’s home village of Aracataca, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, has become a ghost town, a necropolis as windblown and haunted as any gold rush ruin”\*; and in _Field and Stream_: “the windblown desert town of Hot Springs.” In general it seems to be used just to mean either “exposed to wind” or “tossed around by wind.” \*Having been there I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly windy place, as it’s not that close to the coast, so this could be used more to convey that it’s _isolated_ or _abandoned_. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/14 "2015-06-29T05:47:37Z")
I think astro’s and guizot’s definitions come pretty close to the mark. I’ve come across the description “windblown” to describe a place quite often. It was only after looking up an actual definition for “windblown” that I discovered that there was no definition describing a “windblown town”. That surprised me. Hence my question. Thanks everyone.Very helpful. astro: “Metaphorically my minds eye image of a “windblown town” is one that is small, sparsely populated, not doing well economically, and subject to a somewhat harsh environment wind, desert, etc.” guizot…“this could be used more to convey that it’s isolated or abandoned.” ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/15 "2015-06-29T11:29:09Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > Are you sure you’re not thinking of flyblown (dirty & rundown)? Or possibly ‘windswept’ - that sounds more familiar a descriptor to my (British) ears, and would suggest that an area is open to the elements, remote and (most importantly) windy. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/16 "2015-06-29T12:12:40Z")
I note that a search for “windswept town” produces a good many results. “Windblown” could well be a writer trying to avoid cliché. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-windblown-town-i-cant-find-a-definition-for-windblown-in-this-context/723731/17 "2015-06-29T12:40:06Z")
Go to Google maps and find the area of Texas between Big Spring, Lubbock, and Odessa. Drop further down and pick any of the little places like Monahans, Stanton, O’Donnell, etc. Stroll around there for awhile. That’s windblown. It’s prairie sand and no trees and no rain. Add the wind and sand is everywhere. It piles up in corners, it pushes through your closed windows. Then there’s the sand storm. Just stay inside.