dust
see also: Dust
Pronunciation
Dust
Proper noun
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.017
see also: Dust
Pronunciation
- IPA: /dʌst/
dust
- Fine particles
- (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.
- (astronomy, uncountable) Submicron particles in outer space, largely silicates and carbon compounds, that contribute greatly to extinction at visible wavelengths.
- (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
- (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?
- 2010, Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England (page 150)
- 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.
- 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.
- ?, Alfred Tennyson, St. Simeon Stylites
- (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.
- (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.
- (slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
- (colloquial) A disturbance or uproar.
- to raise, or kick up, a dust
- (mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.
dust (dusts, present participle dusting; past and past participle dusted)
- (transitive) To remove dust from.
- The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.
- (intransitive) To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
- Dusting always makes me cough.
- (intransitive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
- (transitive) To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.
- The mother dusted her baby's bum with talcum powder.
- (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.’
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, page 75:
- To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.
- To kill or severely disable.
- French: épousseter
- German: entstauben, abstauben
- Italian: spolverare
- Portuguese: desempoar
- Spanish: desempolvar, limpiar el polvo
- German: entstauben, abstauben
- Italian: spolverare
- Portuguese: desempoar
- Spanish: desempolvar, limpiar el polvo
- German: ein Sandbad nehmen, sandbaden
- French: pulvériser
- German: pudern, bestauben
- Portuguese: empoar
- Russian: опылять
- Spanish: espolvorear
Dust
Proper noun
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.017