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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

dust.

Fine particles.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/dʌst//dʊst/Northern-England
  1. Fine particles. Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, fiber debris, dead skin cells, etc.

    uncountable
  2. Fine particles. Any substance reduced to fine particles; powder.

    uncountable
  3. Fine particles. Submicron particles in outer space, largely silicates and carbon compounds, that contribute greatly to extinction at visible wavelengths.

    uncountable
  4. Fine particles. Disintegration of a solid, like silica.

    uncountable
  5. Fine particles. Flour.

    Australia · dated · slang · uncountable
  6. Fine particles. A single fine, dry particle of earth or other material; grain of dust.

    countable · obsolete
  7. The act of cleaning by dusting.

    countable
  8. The act of sprinkling dust, or a sprinkle of dust itself.

    countable
  9. Earth, ground, soil, sediment.

    countable · poetic · uncountable
  10. The earth as the resting place of the dead.

    countable · uncountable
  11. The earthly remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.

    countable · uncountable
  12. The substance of the human body or mortal frame.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
  13. Something worthless.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
  14. A low or mean condition.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
  15. Rubbish, garbage, refuse.

    UK · colloquial · countable · uncountable
  16. cash; money (in reference to gold dust).

    countable · dated · slang · uncountable
  17. A cloud of dust.

    countable
  18. A tumult, disturbance, commotion, uproar.

    countable · figuratively
    to raise, or kick up, a dust
  19. A fight or row.

    colloquial · countable
  20. A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.

    countable
  21. Tiny amounts of cryptocurrency left over after a transaction due to rounding error.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.

verb/dʌst//dʊst/Northern-England
  1. To remove dust from.

    transitive
    The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.
  2. To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.

    intransitive
    Dusting always makes me cough.
  3. To make dusty, to soil with dust.

    archaic · transitive
  4. Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.

    intransitive · reflexive
  5. To spray or cover (something) with fine powder or liquid, to sprinkle.

    transitive
    The mother dusted her baby’s bum with talcum powder.
  6. To sprinkle (a substance) in the form of dust.

    transitive
  7. To leave quickly; to rush off.

    US · intransitive · slang
  8. To drink up quickly; to toss off.

    obsolete · transitive
  9. To reduce to a fine powder; to pulverize, to levigate.

    obsolete · transitive
  10. To strike, beat, thrash.

    colloquial · dialectal · transitive
  11. To defeat badly, to thrash.

    US · slang · transitive
  12. To kill.

    US · slang · transitive
  13. To deliberately pitch a ball close to (a batter); to brush back.

    transitive
  14. To attempt to identify the owner of (a cryptocurrency wallet) by sending tiny amounts of cryptocurrency.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.