make the dust fly

Idioms  

1. Also,. Stir matters up, cause a commotion or disturbance. For example, When she saw the dog sleeping on her new bedspread, she really made the dust fly, or As soon as he learns who dented his car, he'll make the feathers fly, or She'd better not interfere or he'll make the fur fly. The first usage alludes to the results of a vigorous house-cleaning effort. The two variants, both dating from the early 1800s, allude to what happens when a hunting dog is set on a bird or rabbit.

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Example Sentences

A design educator says he "has the energy and enthusiasm to make the dust fly."

From Time Magazine Archive

A poet describes a play in which Spartiate girls "like colts with flowing manes make the dust fly about them."

From History Of Ancient Civilization by Seignobos, Charles

I am learning to cook, and simply adore Friday when I can tie up my head and pull the house to pieces and make the dust fly.

From Molly Brown's Post-Graduate Days by Speed, Nell

My Mop is so big, It might serve as a wig For a judge, had he no objection; And as to my brooms, They will sweep dirty rooms, And make the dust fly, to perfection.

From A History of the Cries of London Ancient and Modern by Hindley, Charles

To deceive the Turks, men were actually embarked by night and disembarked by daylight to represent reinforcements, and the Sikh muleteers drove furiously all day chiefly to make the dust fly.

From The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and 14th (F. & F. Yeo.) Battn. R.H. 1914-1919 by Ogilvie, David Douglas