dust
Americannoun
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dust
plural
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earth or other matter in fine, dry particles.
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a cloud of finely powdered earth or other matter in the air.
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any finely powdered substance, as sawdust.
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the ground; the earth's surface.
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the substance to which something, as the dead human body, is ultimately reduced by disintegration or decay; earthly remains.
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British.
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ashes, refuse, etc.
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junk.
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a low or humble condition.
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anything worthless.
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disturbance; turmoil.
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the mortal body of a human being.
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a single particle or grain.
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Archaic. money; cash.
verb (used with object)
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dusts,
present (3rd person singular)
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dusted,
past participle, past
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dusting
present participle
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to wipe the dust from.
to dust a table.
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to sprinkle with a powder or dust.
to dust rosebushes with an insecticide.
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to strew or sprinkle (a powder, dust, or other fine particles).
to dust insecticide on a rosebush.
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to soil with dust; make dusty.
verb (used without object)
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dusts,
present (3rd person singular)
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dusted,
past participle, past
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dusting
present participle
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to wipe dust from furniture, woodwork, etc.
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to become dusty.
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to apply dust or powder to a plant, one's body, etc..
to dust with an insecticide in late spring.
idioms
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shake the dust from one's feet, to depart in anger or disdain; leave decisively or in haste, especially from an unpleasant situation.
As the country moved toward totalitarianism, many of the intelligentsia shook the dust from their feet.
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lick the dust,
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to be killed; die.
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to humble oneself abjectly; grovel.
He will resign rather than lick the dust.
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throw dust in someone's eyes, to mislead; deceive.
He threw dust in our eyes by pretending to be a jeweler and then disappeared with the diamonds.
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make the dust fly, to execute with vigor or speed.
We turned them loose on the work, and they made the dust fly.
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leave one in the dust, to overtake and surpass a competitor or one who is less ambitious, qualified, etc..
Don't be so meek, they'll leave you in the dust.
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bite the dust,
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to be killed, especially in battle; die.
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to suffer defeat; be unsuccessful; fail.
Another manufacturer has bitten the dust.
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dust off,
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Baseball. (of a pitcher) to throw the ball purposely at or dangerously close to (the batter).
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to take out or prepare for use again, as after a period of inactivity or storage.
I'm going to dust off my accounting skills and try to get a job in the finance department.
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to beat up badly.
The gang of hoodlums dusted off a cop.
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noun
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dry fine powdery material, such as particles of dirt, earth or pollen
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a cloud of such fine particles
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the powdery particles to which something is thought to be reduced by death, decay, or disintegration
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the mortal body of man
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the corpse of a dead person
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the earth; ground
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informal a disturbance; fuss (esp in the phrases kick up a dust, raise a dust )
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something of little or no worth
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informal (in mining parlance) silicosis or any similar respiratory disease
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short for gold dust
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ashes or household refuse
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to fail completely or cease to exist
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to fall down dead
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something that is very disappointing
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to outdo someone or something comprehensively or with ease
leaving their competitors in the dust
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to depart angrily or contemptuously
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to confuse or mislead
verb
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(tr) to sprinkle or cover (something) with (dust or some other powdery substance)
to dust a cake with sugar
to dust sugar onto a cake
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to remove dust by wiping, sweeping, or brushing
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archaic to make or become dirty with dust
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dustsimple
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dustssimple
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have dustedperfect
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has dustedperfect
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am dustingprogressive
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are dustingprogressive
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is dustingprogressive
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have been dustingperfect progressive
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has been dustingperfect progressive
Past
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dustedsimple
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had dustedperfect
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was dustingprogressive
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were dustingprogressive
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had been dustingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dust
before 900; Middle English; Old English dūst; cognate with German Dunst vapor
Explanation
Dust is the fine, powdery substance that settles on surfaces over time or is blown around outdoors. A junk shop might be full of beautiful old furniture and books, all covered with dust. There's the dust you clean with a feather duster, and then there's the verb "to dust." You can dust your bookshelves, cleaning the dust from them, but you can also dust the surface of a cake with powdered sugar, covering it lightly. Informally, when something "gathers dust," it goes unused, and when "the dust settles," a situation calms down.
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.
See Examples For:
“Rookie” actor Dewan, best known for her breakthrough role in “Step Up” alongside Channing Tatum, will dust off her dancing shoes to compete with pro Val Chmerkovskiy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Merav Opher, SHIELD's principal investigator at Boston University, and her colleagues simulated encounters between the solar system and extremely cold regions filled with gas and dust.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
For decades, he supervised the coal conveyor belt that fed generators, breathing in dust and gas that "nipped his throat".
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Having attended 2025's festival, he said dust across a dry site was an issue.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
“Of course I remember! A beautiful watch, Corrie! A joy to work on. Very old, only he’d let dust get into it. A fine watch must be kept clean, my dear!”
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Under the blazing Mexican sun, Maria Couoh dusts off the skull of her late uncle Tomas.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2025
But unlike most, the 27-year-old mum-of-three is watched by thousands online as she scrubs, dusts and declutters her home, as part of a popular social media trend known as a "reset".
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2025
Then, standing atop scaffolding, Pucci dusts the statue with a synthetic brush and sucks up any particles with a specially designed vacuum strapped to her back.
From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2022
Noriega dusts himself off, then helps Hiraoka to his feet for a polite handshake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2022
Arsenic-contaminated environments have also caused sickness and death among horses, cows, goats, pigs, deer, fishes, and bees; despite this record arsenical sprays and dusts are widely used.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Dixon-Wyatt dusted his defender off the line to catch a red-zone slant for a score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
But Muchova dusted herself down to fight again, bringing up her second match point by sending Gauff wide before slamming home an inside-out forehand winner into the corner.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Some dusted off old camping stoves and refilled oil canisters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
A bag of frozen mini-beef meatballs, dusted generously with paprika and garlic powder, will absolutely get you there.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2026
Not a speck escaped Aunt March’s eye, and all the furniture had claw legs and much carving, which was never dusted to suit.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
The US National Agricultural Aviation Association, which represents crop dusting pilots, says small uncrewed aircraft can be hard for its aviators to see.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Chipper Jones stopped by and said, “You dusting off that chair for next year, Dusty?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
A light dusting of snow fell on the area on Monday, signalling the upcoming start of the ski season.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
The only distinguishing features were a few hurried strips of grilled chicken and a light dusting of Tony Chachere’s — not stirred into the sauce, mind you, but sprinkled on top, like an afterthought.
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2026
“This was kind of the summer of snacks,” I said, dusting chip crumbs from my fingers.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
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.
