dust
nounEtymology
From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.
Definitions
Fine particles.
- There is so much dust released during the process of laying ballast that the trackside operator wears a full face mask with respirator.
The act of cleaning by dusting.
- […]once they start school, I mean you can do a room out one day, the next day it only needs a dust, doesn’t it?
The act of sprinkling dust, or a sprinkle of dust itself.
›+ 28 more definitionsshow fewer
Earth, ground, soil, sediment.
- But I should turn mine ears and hear The moanings of the homeless sea, The sound of streams that swift or slow Draw down Æonian hills, and sow The dust of continents to be; […]
The earth as the resting place of the dead.
- For now shall I sleep in the dust.
The earthly remains of bodies once alive
The earthly remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
- For I will leave my relics in your land, / And you may carve a shrine about my dust, / And burn a fragrant lamp before my bones, / When I am gather’d to the glorious saints.
The substance of the human body or mortal frame.
Something worthless.
- And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust.
A low or mean condition.
- [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust.
Rubbish, garbage, refuse.
cash
cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
- ‘And what do you ask for it?’ ‘Fifteen thousand dollars.’ ‘I’ll take it.’ ‘Then down with the dust.’
A cloud of dust.
A tumult, disturbance, commotion, uproar.
- to raise, or kick up, a dust
A fight or row.
A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.
Tiny amounts of cryptocurrency left over after a transaction due to rounding error.
To remove dust from.
- The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.
To remove dust
To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
- Dusting always makes me cough.
To make dusty, to soil with dust.
Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
To spray or cover (something) with fine powder or liquid, to sprinkle.
- The mother dusted her baby’s bum with talcum powder.
To sprinkle (a substance) in the form of dust.
To leave quickly
To leave quickly; to rush off.
- He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust. I’d like to talk to you a little, soldier.’
To drink up quickly
To drink up quickly; to toss off.
To reduce to a fine powder
To reduce to a fine powder; to pulverize, to levigate.
- good Powder differs from bad […]in having more Peter and less Coal; and lastly, in the well dusting of it
To strike, beat, thrash.
To defeat badly, to thrash.
To kill.
- Kyle Reese: You have to be careful because the [Hunter-Killer robots] use infrared. They’re not too bright. John taught us ways to dust them.
To deliberately pitch a ball close to (a batter)
To deliberately pitch a ball close to (a batter); to brush back.
To attempt to identify the owner of (a cryptocurrency wallet) by sending tiny amounts of…
To attempt to identify the owner of (a cryptocurrency wallet) by sending tiny amounts of cryptocurrency.
A surname.
The neighborhood
- neighborcrop-dust
- neighborvacuum cleaner
Derived
angel dust, antidust, Asian dust, bark dust, beat the dust, bedust, bite the dust, brake dust, bread dust, brickdust, bull dust, bulldust, bust the dust, Cantor dust, catch dust, chalkdust, coal dust, coaldust, collect dust, come down with one's dust, come down with the dust, copple dust, cosmic dust, cupel-dust, dedust, devil's dust, dhobi dust, diamond dust, down with one's dust, down with the dust, dry as dust, dustable, dust bag, dustbag, dustball, dustbath, dust bath, dustbathe, dustbin, dust bin · +135 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at dust. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at dust. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
7 hops · closes at dust
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA