dirt

[durt]
noun
1.
any foul or filthy substance, as mud, grime, dust, or excrement.
2.
earth or soil, especially 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, especially 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.
8.
Mining.
a.
crude, broken ore or waste.
b.
(in placer mining) the material from which gold is separated by washing.
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.
00:10
Dirt is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English dirt, drit; cognate with Old Norse drit excrement; compare Old English drītan


6. scandal, slander, rumor, scuttlebutt.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
dirt (dɜːt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  any unclean substance, such as mud, dust, excrement, etc; filth
2.  loose earth; soil
3.  a.  packed earth, gravel, cinders, etc, used to make a racetrack
 b.  (as modifier): a dirt track
4.  mining the gravel or soil from which minerals are extracted
5.  a person or thing regarded as worthless
6.  obscene or indecent speech or writing
7.  slang gossip; scandalous information
8.  moral corruption
9.  slang do someone dirt to do something vicious to someone
10.  informal dish the dirt to spread malicious gossip
11.  slang eat dirt to accept insult without complaining
12.  treat someone like dirt to have no respect or consideration for someone
 
[C13: from Old Norse drit excrement; related to Middle Dutch drēte]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

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. Dirt-cheap is from 1821.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

dirt definition


  1. n.
    low, worthless people. (Singular with the force of plural.) : I am not dirt. I'm just temporarily financially embarrassed.
  2. n.
    gossip; scandal; incriminating secrets; dirty linen. : What's the dirt on Taylor?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

Dirt definition


Design In Real Time

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

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. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
The liquid drops take small particles of dirt and grime with them.
In the spring, he will have to clear the dirt away from each one by hand.
It might seem strange to compare a bowl of cornflakes to a pile of dirt.
Insulted, hounded and despised, dirt these days has nowhere to hide.
Images for dirt
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