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dust devil

American  
[duhst dev-uhl] / ˈdʌst ˌdɛv əl /

noun

Meteorology.

  1. a well-developed dust whirl with a diameter of about 10–100 feet (3–30 meters), rotating either clockwise or counterclockwise, common in dry regions on hot, calm afternoons and made visible by the dust, debris, and sand it picks up from the ground: dust devils on average are about 660 feet (200 meters) tall, but some have exceeded a height of 3,280 feet (1 kilometer).

    We noticed the base of the dust devil following a direct path along the ground, but its uppermost portion was meandering wildly.
dust devil British  

noun

  1. a strong miniature whirlwind that whips up dust, litter, leaves, etc into the air

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dust devil

First recorded in 1890–95

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.

Given that the rover’s SuperCam microphone is turned on for less than three minutes every few days, Murdoch said it was “definitely luck” that the dust devil appeared when it did on Sept. 27, 2021.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 13, 2022

What it needs is a direct hit by a dust devil, because such vortices are capable of cleaning solar panels.

From Washington Post • Dec. 13, 2022

A dust devil has been spotted in a field following a wildfire in County Durham.

From BBC • Aug. 12, 2022

“Maybe we’ll get a nice thick dust devil and we’ll have enough power to keep going for a while,” Daubar says.

From Scientific American • May 24, 2022

The dust devil passes as quickly as it came.

From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga

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.