noun
- earth or other matter in fine, dry particles.
- a cloud of finely powdered earth or other matter in the air.
- any finely powdered substance, as sawdust.
- the ground; the earth’s surface.
- the substance to which something, as the dead human body, is ultimately reduced by disintegration or decay; earthly remains.
- British.
- ashes, refuse, etc.
- junk1(def 1).
- a low or humble condition.
- anything worthless.
- disturbance; turmoil.
- gold dust.
- the mortal body of a human being.
- a single particle or grain.
- Archaic. money; cash.
verb (used with object)
- to wipe the dust from: to dust a table.
- to sprinkle with a powder or dust: to dust rosebushes with an insecticide.
- to strew or sprinkle (a powder, dust, or other fine particles): to dust insecticide on a rosebush.
- to soil with dust; make dusty.
verb (used without object)
- to wipe dust from furniture, woodwork, etc.
- to become dusty.
- to apply dust or powder to a plant, one’s body, etc.: to dust with an insecticide in late spring.
Idioms
- bite the dust,
- to be killed, especially in battle; die.
- to suffer defeat; be unsuccessful; fail: Another manufacturer has bitten the dust.
- dust off,
- Baseball.(of a pitcher) to throw the ball purposely at or dangerously close to (the batter).
- 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.
- to beat up badly: The gang of hoodlums dusted off a cop.
- 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.
- lick the dust,
- to be killed; die.
- to humble oneself abjectly; grovel: He will resign rather than lick the dust.
- make the dust fly, to execute with vigor or speed: We turned them loose on the work, and they made the dust fly.
- 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.
- 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.
noun
- dry fine powdery material, such as particles of dirt, earth or pollen
- a cloud of such fine particles
- the powdery particles to which something is thought to be reduced by death, decay, or disintegration
-
- the mortal body of man
- the corpse of a dead person
- the earth; ground
- informal a disturbance; fuss (esp in the phrases kick up a dust, raise a dust)
- something of little or no worth
- informal (in mining parlance) silicosis or any similar respiratory disease
- short for gold dust
- ashes or household refuse
- bite the dust
- to fail completely or cease to exist
- to fall down dead
- dust and ashes something that is very disappointing
- leave someone or something in the dust to outdo someone or something comprehensively or with easeleaving their competitors in the dust
- shake the dust off one’s feet to depart angrily or contemptuously
- throw dust in the eyes of to confuse or mislead
verb
- (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
- to remove dust by wiping, sweeping, or brushing
- archaic to make or become dirty with dust
n.Old English dust, from Proto-Germanic *dunstaz (cf. Old High German tunst “storm, breath,” German Dunst “mist, vapor,” Danish dyst “milldust,” Dutch duist), from PIE *dheu- (1) “dust, smoke, vapor” (cf. Sanskrit dhu- “shake,” Latin fumus “smoke”). Meaning “that to which living matter decays” was in Old English, hence, figuratively, “mortal life.” v.c.1200, “to rise as dust;” later “to sprinkle with dust” (1590s) and “to rid of dust” (1560s); from dust (n.). Related: Dusted; dusting. Sense of “to kill” is U.S. slang first recorded 1938 (cf. bite the dust under bite (v.)). Depart in a hurry, especially from an unpleasant situation; also, leave forever. For example, I couldn’t wait to shake the dust from my feet; I never wanted to see either of them again. This metaphoric term, alluding to moving one’s feet fast enough to shake off dust, appears in several books of the Bible. [c. 1600] In addition to the idiom beginning with dust
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