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Webster 1913 Edition

Dust

Dust

(dŭst)
,
Noun.
[AS.
dust
; cf. LG.
dust
, D.
duist
meal dust, OD.
doest
,
donst
, and G.
dunst
vapor, OHG.
tunist
,
dunist
, a blowing, wind, Icel.
dust
dust, Dan.
dyst
mill dust; perh. akin to L.
fumus
smoke, E.
fume
. √71.]
1.
Fine, dry particles of earth or other matter, so comminuted that they may be raised and wafted by the wind; that which is crumbled to minute portions; fine powder;
as, clouds of
dust
; bone
dust
.
Dust
thou art, and unto
dust
shalt thou return.
Gen. iii. 19.
Stop! – for thy tread is on an empire’s
dust
.
Byron.
2.
A single particle of earth or other matter.
[R.]
“To touch a dust of England's ground.”
Shak.
3.
The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
For now shall sleep in the
dust
.
Job vii. 21.
4.
The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
And you may carve a shrine about my
dust
.
Tennyson.
5.
Figuratively, a worthless thing.
And by the merit of vile gold, dross,
dust
.
Shakespeare
6.
Figuratively, a low or mean condition.
[God] raiseth up the poor out of the
dust
.
1 Sam. ii. 8.
7.
Gold dust
; hence: (
Slang
)
Coined money; cash.
Down with the dust
,
deposit the cash; pay down the money.
[Slang]
“My lord, quoth the king, presently deposit your hundred pounds in gold, or else no going hence all the days of your life. . . . The Abbot down with his dust, and glad he escaped so, returned to Reading.”
Fuller.
–
Dust brand
(Bot.)
,
a fungous plant (
Ustilago Carbo
); – called also
smut
.
–
Gold dust
,
fine particles of gold, such as are obtained in placer mining; – often used as money, being transferred by weight.
–
In dust and ashes
.
See under
Ashes
.
–
To bite the dust
.
See under
Bite
,
Verb.
T.
–
To raise dust
, or
To kick up dust
,
to make a commotion.
[Colloq.]
–
To throw dust in one's eyes
,
to mislead; to deceive.
[Colloq.]

Dust

(dŭst)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dusted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Dusting
.]
1.
To free from dust; to brush, wipe, or sweep away dust from;
as, to
dust
a table or a floor
.
2.
To sprinkle with dust.
3.
To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.
Sprat.
To dyst one's jacket
,
to give one a flogging.
[Slang.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Dust

DUST

,
Noun.
1.
Fine dry particles of earth or other matter, so attenuated that it may be raised and wafted by the wind; powder; as clouds of dust and seas of blood.
2.
Fine dry particles of earth; fine earth.
The peacock warmeth her eggs in the dust. Job 34.
3.
Earth; unorganized earthy matter.
Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return. Genesis 3.
4.
The grave.
For now shall I sleep in the dust. Job 7.
5.
A low condition.
God raiseth the poor out of the dust. 1 Samuel 2.

DUST

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To free from dust; to brush, wipe or sweep away dust; as, to dust a table or a floor.
2.
To sprinkle with dust.
3.
To levigate.

Definition 2024

dust

dust

English

Noun

dust ‎(countable and uncountable, plural dusts)

  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. (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. (obsolete) A single particle of earth or other material.
    • Shakespeare
      to touch a dust of England's ground
  4. The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
    • Bible, Job vii. 21
      I shall sleep in the dust.
  5. The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
    • Tennyson
      And you may carve a shrine about my dust.
  6. (figuratively) Something worthless.
    • Shakespeare
      And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust.
  7. (figuratively) A low or mean condition.
    • Bible, 1 Sam. ii. 8
      [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust.
  8. (slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
  9. (mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

dust ‎(third-person singular simple present dusts, present participle dusting, simple past and past participle dusted)

  1. (transitive) To remove dust from.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 12, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
    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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sprat to this entry?)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Norwegian

Etymology 1

Back-formation of dustet, from Old Norse dust (dust particle)

Noun

dust m

  1. (pejorative) dork, moron, tool
Inflection
Derived terms
  • dustemikkel
Synonyms
References
  • “dust” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse dust.

Noun

dust

  1. dust (fine, dry particles)
Inflection
References
  • “dust” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *dunstiz ‎(“dust, vapor”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- ‎(“vapor, smoke”). Akin to Hindi धुआं ‎(dhu'āṁ, “smoke”), Middle Dutch dost, donst, duust (Dutch dons, duist), Old High German tunst, dunst (German Dunst), Low German dust, Icelandic dust, Norwegian dust, Danish dyst.

Noun

dūst n

  1. dust; powder; mill dust

Declension

Descendants

Old Norse

Noun

dust n

  1. dust particle

References

  • dust in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Scottish Gaelic

Noun

dust m ‎(genitive singular dust, no plural)

  1. dust

Usage notes

  • Also used figuratively for corpse.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dʌst/
  • Rhymes: -ʌst
  • Homophone: dost

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