dust

dust
[[t]dʌ̱st[/t]]
♦♦♦
dusts, dusting, dusted
1) N-UNCOUNT Dust is very small dry particles of earth or sand.

Tanks raise huge trails of dust when they move...

He reversed into the stockade in a cloud of dust.

2) N-UNCOUNT Dust is the very small pieces of dirt which you find inside buildings, for example on furniture, floors, or lights.

I could see a thick layer of dust on the stairs...

The rooms were empty of furniture and dust lay everywhere.

3) N-UNCOUNT: oft n N Dust is a fine powder which consists of very small particles of a substance such as gold, wood, or coal.

The air is so black with diesel fumes and coal dust, I can barely see.

4) VERB When you dust something such as furniture, you remove dust from it, usually using a cloth.

[V n] I vacuumed and dusted and polished the living room...

She dusted, she cleaned, and she did the washing-up.

Derived words:
dusting N-UNCOUNT

I'm very fortunate in that I don't have to do the washing-up or the dusting.

5) VERB If you dust something with a fine substance such as powder or if you dust a fine substance onto something, you cover it lightly with that substance.

[V n prep/adv] Lightly dust the fish with flour...

[V n prep/adv] Dust and blend blusher on the apples of your cheeks...

[V adv/prep] Dry your feet well and then dust between the toes with baby powder.

6) PHRASE: V inflects (emphasis) If you say that something has bitten the dust, you are emphasizing that it no longer exists or that it has failed. [HUMOROUS, INFORMAL]

In the last 30 years many cherished values have bitten the dust...

The allegation has caused one lecturer's career to bite the dust.

7) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that something will happen when the dust settles, you mean that a situation will be clearer after it has calmed down. If you let the dust settle before doing something, you let a situation calm down before you try to do anything else. [INFORMAL]

Once the dust had settled Beck defended his decision...

I think we need to let the dust settle and see what's going to happen after that.

8) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that something is gathering dust, you mean that it has been left somewhere and nobody is using it or doing anything with it.

Many of the machines are gathering dust in basements...

The album is finally being released in October after gathering dust for over a year.

Phrasal Verbs:

English dictionary. 2008.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dust — (d[u^]st), n. [AS. dust; cf. LG. dust, D. duist meal dust, OD. doest, donst, and G. dunst vapor, OHG. tunist, dunist, a blowing, wind, Icel. dust dust, Dan. dyst mill dust; perh. akin to L. fumus smoke, E. fume. [root]71.] 1. Fine, dry particles… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dust — [dust] n. [ME < OE, akin to MLowG: for IE base see DUN1] 1. powdery earth or other matter in bits fine enough to be easily suspended in air 2. a cloud of such matter 3. confusion; turmoil 4. a) earth, esp. as the place of burial …   English World dictionary

  • dust — ► NOUN 1) fine, dry powder consisting of tiny particles of earth or waste matter. 2) any material in the form of tiny particles: coal dust. 3) an act of dusting. ► VERB 1) remove dust from the surface of. 2) cover lightly with a powdered… …   English terms dictionary

  • dust|y — «DUHS tee», adjective, dust|i|er, dust|i|est. 1. covered with dust; filled with dust: »He found some dusty old books in the attic. 2. like dust; dry and powdery: »dusty ch …   Useful english dictionary

  • Dust — (d[u^]st), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dusted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Dusting}.] 1. To free from dust; to brush, wipe, or sweep away dust from; as, to dust a table or a floor. [1913 Webster] 2. To sprinkle with dust. [1913 Webster] 3. To reduce to a fine… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dust — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Dust Álbum de Screaming Trees Publicación 1996 Grabación 1996 …   Wikipedia Español

  • dust|er — «DUHS tuhr», noun. 1. a person or thing that dusts. 2. a cloth, brush, or the like, used to get dust off things. 3. an apparatus for sifting or blowing dry poisons on plants to kill insects. 4. a contrivance for removing dust by sifting; sieve. 5 …   Useful english dictionary

  • dust-up — dust ups N COUNT A dust up is a quarrel that often involves some fighting. [INFORMAL] He s now facing suspension after a dust up with the referee. Syn: scrap …   English dictionary

  • dust — [n] tiny particles in the air ashes, cinders, dirt, dust bunnies*, earth, filth, flakes, fragments, gilings, granules, grime, grit, ground, lint, loess, powder, refuse, sand, smut, soil, soot; concept 437 dust [v] sprinkle tiny particles… …   New thesaurus

  • dust-up — [dust′up΄] n. Slang a commotion, quarrel, or fight * * * …   Universalium

  • dust — is used as a simile for annihilation (2 Kgs. 13:7). In the NT dust on the head was a sign of repentance (Rev. 18:19) but when shaken off the feet it was either a warning of judgement [[➝ Judgement]] to come (perhaps Matt. 10:14) or a gesture of… …   Dictionary of the Bible

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