dust
see also: Dust
Pronunciation Noun

dust

  1. Fine particles
    1. (uncountable) Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.
    2. (astronomy, uncountable) Submicron particles in outer space, largely silicates and carbon compounds, that contribute greatly to extinction at visible wavelengths.
    3. (obsolete) A single particle of earth or other material.
      • 1595 December 9 (first known performance)​, William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene iii]:
        to touch a dust of England's ground
  2. (countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.
    • 2010, Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England (page 150)
      […] 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?
  3. The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Job 7:21 ↗:
      For now shall I sleep in the dust.
  4. The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
    • ?, Alfred Tennyson, St. Simeon Stylites
      And you may carve a shrine about my dust.
  5. (figurative) Something worthless.
    • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene i]:
      And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust.
  6. (figurative) A low or mean condition.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, 1 Samuel 2:8 ↗:
      [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust.
  7. (slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
  8. (colloquial) A disturbance or uproar.
    to raise, or kick up, a dust
  9. (mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.
Translations Verb

dust (dusts, present participle dusting; past and past participle dusted)

  1. (transitive) To remove dust from.
    The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.
  2. (intransitive) To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
    Dusting always makes me cough.
  3. (intransitive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
  4. (transitive) To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.
    The mother dusted her baby's bum with talcum powder.
  5. (chiefly, US slang) To leave; to rush off.
    • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, page 75:
      He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust. I'd like to talk to you a little, soldier.’
  6. To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.
  7. To kill or severely disable.
Translations Translations Translations
  • German: ein Sandbad nehmen, sandbaden
Translations
Dust
Proper noun
  1. Surname



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