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View synonyms for dust

dust

[ duhst ]

noun

  1. earth or other matter in fine, dry particles.
  2. a cloud of finely powdered earth or other matter in the air.
  3. any finely powdered substance, as sawdust.
  4. the ground; the earth's surface.
  5. the substance to which something, as the dead human body, is ultimately reduced by disintegration or decay; earthly remains.
  6. British.
    1. ashes, refuse, etc.
  7. a low or humble condition.
  8. anything worthless.
  9. disturbance; turmoil.
  10. the mortal body of a human being.
  11. a single particle or grain.
  12. Archaic. money; cash.


verb (used with object)

  1. to wipe the dust from:

    to dust a table.

  2. to sprinkle with a powder or dust:

    to dust rosebushes with an insecticide.

  3. to strew or sprinkle (a powder, dust, or other fine particles):

    to dust insecticide on a rosebush.

  4. to soil with dust; make dusty.

verb (used without object)

  1. to wipe dust from furniture, woodwork, etc.
  2. to become dusty.
  3. to apply dust or powder to a plant, one's body, etc.:

    to dust with an insecticide in late spring.

dust

/ dʌst /

noun

  1. dry fine powdery material, such as particles of dirt, earth or pollen
  2. a cloud of such fine particles
  3. the powdery particles to which something is thought to be reduced by death, decay, or disintegration
    1. the mortal body of man
    2. the corpse of a dead person
  4. the earth; ground
  5. informal.
    a disturbance; fuss (esp in the phrases kick up a dust, raise a dust )
  6. something of little or no worth
  7. informal.
    (in mining parlance) silicosis or any similar respiratory disease
  8. short for gold dust
  9. ashes or household refuse
  10. bite the dust
    bite the dust
    1. to fail completely or cease to exist
    2. to fall down dead
  11. dust and ashes
    dust and ashes something that is very disappointing
  12. leave someone or something in the dust
    leave someone or something in the dust to outdo someone or something comprehensively or with ease

    leaving their competitors in the dust

  13. shake the dust off one's feet
    shake the dust off one's feet to depart angrily or contemptuously
  14. throw dust in the eyes of
    throw dust in the eyes of to confuse or mislead


verb

  1. tr to sprinkle or cover (something) with (dust or some other powdery substance)

    to dust a cake with sugar

    to dust sugar onto a cake

  2. to remove dust by wiping, sweeping, or brushing
  3. archaic.
    to make or become dirty with dust

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Derived Forms

  • ˈdustless, adjective

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Other Words From

  • dustless adjective
  • re·dust verb (used with object)
  • un·dusted adjective
  • well-dusted adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of dust1

before 900; Middle English; Old English dūst; cognate with German Dunst vapor

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Word History and Origins

Origin of dust1

Old English dūst; related to Danish dyst flour dust, Middle Dutch dūst dust, meal dust, Old High German tunst storm

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. bite the dust,
    1. to be killed, especially in battle; die.
    2. to suffer defeat; be unsuccessful; fail:

      Another manufacturer has bitten the dust.

  2. dust off,
    1. Baseball. (of a pitcher) to throw the ball purposely at or dangerously close to (the batter).
    2. to take out or prepare for use again, as after a period of inactivity or storage:

      I'm going to dust off my accounting skills and try to get a job in the finance department.

    3. to beat up badly:

      The gang of hoodlums dusted off a cop.

  3. leave one in the dust, to overtake and surpass a competitor or one who is less ambitious, qualified, etc.:

    Don't be so meek, they'll leave you in the dust.

  4. lick the dust,
    1. to be killed; die.
    2. to humble oneself abjectly; grovel:

      He will resign rather than lick the dust.

  5. make the dust fly, to execute with vigor or speed:

    We turned them loose on the work, and they made the dust fly.

  6. shake the dust from one's feet, to depart in anger or disdain; leave decisively or in haste, especially from an unpleasant situation:

    As the country moved toward totalitarianism, many of the intelligentsia shook the dust from their feet.

  7. throw dust in someone's eyes, to mislead; deceive:

    He threw dust in our eyes by pretending to be a jeweler and then disappeared with the diamonds.

More idioms and phrases containing dust

In addition to the idiom beginning with dust , also see bite the dust ; dry as dust ; in the dust ; make the dust fly ; shake the dust from one's feet ; throw dust in someone's eyes ; watch my dust ; when the dust has settled .

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Example Sentences

Its dust collection system captures up to 75 percent of dust generated by your project so clean up is easy.

Now its frozen gases regularly vaporize under solar heat, releasing clouds of dust that make the jets and streamers visible.

Now research suggests that dust particles can become fomites, too.

Electric fields associated with dust lifting could affect the performance and lifetime of hardware on Mars, Grossman says, “although I don’t think it was the critical factor for P­hoenix or Opportunity.”

It formed some 680 million years ago from a large cloud of gas and dust in the Milky Way.

Estee Lauder has not crumbled to dust because the perfect brown face of Joan Smalls represents it.

Moreover, trucks, dust, and boomtown stress are the effects of any large-scale industrial activity.

That is a lot of air pollution, noise, and yet more kicking up of dust.

“I have full faith that this will happen,” Williams says, prepping her fairy dust for a flurry of happy thoughts.

If we enter with hammer in hand, we may leave with merely dust and rubble on our faces.

In the aperture of the window, amid piles of paper, stood a rickety old table, covered with dust.

It was little better than coal dust, and would not carry a ball fifty paces to kill or wound.

Never mind the dust; I've turned it on to make believe we're going tremendously fast.

He laid it upon the floor, and took out a plaster mask, and brushing and blowing off the saw-dust, held it up.

When the smoke and dust cleared away nothing stirred on the whole of that piece of ground.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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