dirt

Dirt (soil).

See also DIRT, and Dirt

English

Alternative forms

• durt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English drit (“excrement”), probably from Old Norse drit (“exrement”), from Proto-Germanic *dritan, *dritō (“excrement”), from Proto-Indo-European *dhreid-, *treidh- (“to have diarrhea”). Cognate with Norwegian dritt (“excrement”), Icelandic drit (“bird exrement”), Flemish drits (“dirt, mud, filth”), Dutch dreet (“excrement”), Old English ġedrītan (“to defecate”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /dɜːt/, SAMPA: /d3:t/
• (GenAm) IPA: /dɝt/, SAMPA: /d3`t/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (mid-20th-century New York City) IPA: /dɜjt/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)t

Noun

dirt (uncountable)

1. soil or earth
2. A stain or spot (on clothes etc); any foreign substance that worsens appearance
3. Previously unknown negative facts (or invented "facts") about a person, gossip

   The reporter uncovered the dirt on the businessman by going undercover.

Derived terms

Terms derived from dirt

dirt bike dirt nap

dirty

do someone dirt

Translations

soil or earth

Arabic: قذارة (ar) (qadhaara) f., أرض (ar) ('arD) f., تربة (ar) (túrba) f. Armenian: հող (hy) (hoġ) Bulgarian: земя (bg) (zemjá) f., почва (bg) (póčva) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 泥土 (zh) (nítǔ), 污垢 (zh) (wūgòu), 灰塵 (zh), 灰尘 (zh) (huīchén), 地 (zh) (dì), 土 (zh) (tǔ) Finnish: maa (fi), multa (fi), tomu (fi) French: terre (fr) f., boue (fr) f. German: Erde (de), Schmutz (de) m., Dreck (de) m. Hebrew: עפר ('afar) m. Italian: terra (it) f. Japanese: 泥 (ja) (どろ, doro), 土 (ja) (つち, tsuchi), 泥土 (ja) (でいど, deido), (katakana) ダート (ja) (dāto)

Kurdish: Lojban: dertu (jbo) Luhya: buchafu Sorani: خۆڵ (ku) (xoll), خاک (ku) (xak) Navajo: łeezh Polish: ziemia (pl) f. Russian: грязь (ru) (grjaz') f., земля (ru) (zemljá) f., почва (ru) (póčva) f. Spanish: tierra (es) f. Swahili: takataka (sw), uchafu (sw) Swedish: jord (sv) c. Telugu: మురికి (muriki)

stain or spot (on clothes etc)

Arabic: بقعة (ar) Armenian: կեղտ (hy) (keġt) Bulgarian: петно (bg) n., мръсотия (bg) f. Czech: špína (cs) f. Finnish: lika (fi), tahra (fi) French: salissure (fr) f., tache (fr) f. German: Fleck (de) Hebrew: לכלוך (likhlukh) m. Italian: sporco (it) m.

Kurdish: Sorani: چڵک (ku) (çillk) Polish: brud (pl) m. Russian: грязь (ru) (grjaz') f. Spanish: mugre (es) f., suciedad (es) f. Swahili: takataka (sw), chafu (sw) Swedish: smuts (sv) c. Telugu: మరక (maraka)

previously unknown negative information

Finnish: törky (fi) German: Schmutz (de) m. Hebrew: לכלוך (likhlukh) m.

Luhya: buchafu Russian: грязь (ru) (grjaz') f. Swahili: takataka (sw), uchafu (sw)

Verb

dirt (third-person singular simple present dirts, present participle dirting, simple past and past participle dirted)

1. (transitive, rare) To make foul or filthy; soil; befoul; dirty