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9 dictionary results for: Dirt

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

dirt

[durt] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	any foul or filthy substance, as mud, grime, dust, or excrement.

2.	earth or soil, esp. when loose.

3.	something or someone vile, mean, or worthless: After that last outburst of hers I thought she was dirt.

4.	moral filth; vileness; corruption.

5.	obscene or lewd language: to talk dirt.

6.	Informal. gossip, esp. of a malicious, lurid, or scandalous nature: Tell me all the latest dirt.

7.	private or personal information which if made public would create a scandal or ruin the reputation of a person, company, etc.

Mining.

a.	crude, broken ore or waste.

b.	(in placer mining) the material from which gold is separated by washing.

—Idioms

9.	do (someone) dirt. dirty (def. 18).

10.	eat dirt, Informal. to accept blame, guilt, criticism, or insults without complaint; humble or abase oneself: The prosecutor seemed determined to make the defendant eat dirt.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME dirt, drit; c. ON drit excrement; cf. OE drītan

]

—Synonyms 6. scandal, slander, rumor, scuttlebutt.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

dirt (dûrt) Pronunciation Key
n.

Earth or soil.
1. A filthy or soiling substance, such as mud or dust.
2. Excrement.
3. Obscene language or subject matter.
4. Malicious or scandalous gossip.
5. Information that embarrasses or accuses.
A squalid or filthy condition.
One that is mean, contemptible, or vile.
1. Obscene language or subject matter.
2. Malicious or scandalous gossip.
3. Information that embarrasses or accuses.
Unethical behavior or practice; corruption.
Material, such as gravel or slag, from which metal is extracted in mining.

[Middle English, variant of drit, excrement, filth, mud, from Old Norse.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
dirt

15c. metathesis of M.E. drit, drytt "mud, dirt, dung" (c.1300), from O.N. drit, cognate with O.E. dritan, from P.Gmc. *dritanan. Meaning "gossip" first attested 1926 (in Hemingway); dirt bike is 1960s. Dirty in the sense of "morally unclean" is attested from 1599. Dirty linen "personal or familial secrets" is first recorded 1860s. Dirt-cheap is from 1821.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

dirt
adjective
1.	(of roads) not leveled or drained; unsuitable for all year travel
noun
1.	the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock [syn: soil]
2.	the state of being covered with unclean things
3.	obscene terms for feces [syn: crap]
4.	disgraceful gossip about the private lives of other people [syn: scandal]

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

dirt

In addition to the idiom beginning with dirt, also see dig up (dirt); dish the dirt; eat crow (dirt); hit the deck (dirt); pay dirt; treat like dirt. Also see under dirty.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

Dirt
Design In Real Time

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dirt

Dirt\, n. [OE. drit; kin to Icel. drit excrement, dr[=i]ta to dung, OD. drijten to dung, AS. gedr[=i]tan.]

1. Any foul of filthy substance, as excrement, mud, dust, etc.; whatever, adhering to anything, renders it foul or unclean; earth; as, a wagonload of dirt.

Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. --Is. lvii. 20.

2. Meanness; sordidness.

Honors . . . thrown away upon dirt and infamy. --Melmoth.

3. In placer mining, earth, gravel, etc., before washing.

Dirt bed (Geom.), a layer of clayey earth forming a stratum in a geological formation. Dirt beds are common among the coal measures.

Dirt eating. (a) The use of certain kinds of clay for food, existing among some tribes of Indians; geophagism. --Humboldt. (b) (Med.) Same as Chthonophagia.

Dirt pie, clay or mud molded by children in imitation of pastry. --Otway (1684).

To eat dirt, to submit in a meanly humble manner to insults; to eat humble pie.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dirt

Dirt\, v. t. To make foul of filthy; to dirty. --Swift.

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Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

DIRT

DIRT: in Acronym Finder

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