crop duster

American  

[krop duhs-ter] / ˈkrɒp ˌdʌs tər /

noun

1. a pilot employed in crop-dusting from an airplane.

   In 1942, he went from being a crop duster in Kansas to being a fighter pilot in the Pacific.

2. an airplane used in crop-dusting.

   I made my first solo flight in that old crop duster.

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Etymology

Origin of crop duster

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

In Kern County: Mistaken for a government agent by foreign spies, Roger Thornhill, played by Cary Grant, is chased across a barren field in Indiana by a crop duster in “North by Northwest.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

Hankey even hired a crop duster to fly over half of his 30 acres to test whether the plane would move more pollen around in the air and improve fertilization.

From Reuters • Dec. 21, 2022

Ukraine’s most sophisticated attack drone is about as stealthy as a crop duster: slow, low-flying and completely defenseless.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 11, 2022

Can a menacing crop duster be far behind?

From Washington Post • Sep. 5, 2017

Mariya Akilina, from the 46th Guards, flew in the medical services and as a crop duster in civil aviation for twenty years after the war; Nadya Popova and Klava Fomicheva worked as flight instructors.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein