AstroTurf
nounEtymology
From astro- + turf, from its namesake trademark, in turn a reference to the Astrodome stadium in Houston, the first major sports venue to install artificial turf in 1966. The venue was named by its developer Roy Hofheinz, presumably a reference to the emerging identity of Houston as Space City. Originally marketed as ChemGrass.
Definitions
A synthetic material used in sports grounds as a durable substitute for natural grass.
Alternative form of Astroturf.
Alternative letter-case form of Astroturf.
›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer
To cover with an artificial grasslike material.
- But what was there left to Astroturf? The sitting-room? Hugh's bald patch?
- Is it just me, or is it hard to find anyone nowadays to Astroturf your car?
To fabricate an impression of political support for an agenda.
- We have been Astroturfed by some of the biggest players in the business. As you will read in the coming pages, a reasonable-sounding group called Americans for Balanced Energy Choices spent us$40 million during the last presidential[…]
- Even Maher reacted; his Achilles' heel is that even though he's a leftie, he exhibits clear contempt for the astroturfed audience he relies upon for his laughs. The awkwardness continued for a full, commercial-free half hour,[…]
- The opposition party in Washington and its Astroturfed Tea Partiers around the country could focus strictly on assigning blame for the disaster . At the direction of the field marshals of the rich right in Washington , the Tea Party was[…]
Of a group created by a larger organisation (especially a corporation or political…
Of a group created by a larger organisation (especially a corporation or political party), but presenting itself as a grassroots organisation.
- Can we assure readers that astroturf letters will not appear as letters in The Star? Unfortunately, no. At least a dozen Web sites from which astroturf can be generated have been identified. Many more exist.
- The defining feature of astroturf groups is that they are generated by an industry, think tank, or front group, but disguised to appear as a spontaneous, popular 'grassroots' effort. They are created to lobby or campaign on behalf of[…]
- These astroturf organizations allow corporations to engage in public debates and government hearings under the guise of concerned citizens. A key purpose of astroturf activities is to defuse the efforts of social movement organizations[…]
A campaign designed to appear like a genuine popular (or grassroots) movement, that does…
A campaign designed to appear like a genuine popular (or grassroots) movement, that does not have such popular support.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for AstroTurf. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA