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Synonyms

dust ball

American  

noun

  1. Chiefly Northern and North Midland U.S. a ball or roll of dust and lint that accumulates indoors, as in corners or under furniture.

Regionalisms

Dust ball and dust curl are used chiefly in the North and North Midland U.S. Dust kitten and dust kitty are also in use in the Northern U.S., but there are many other terms that are in use in widely scattered local areas, such as dust mouse, house moss, and woolly.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I was just biding my time, after all, until I had my ticket off that dust ball.

From Nature • Feb. 14, 2017

There was not a dust ball in sight.

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway

“The servants were careless when they cleaned the coach. That dust ball is a disgrace. We shouldn’t have to ride in such filth. Pick it up, Ella.”

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.