dust

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[edit] English

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[edit] Etymology

Middle English dust, from Old English dūst

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

dust (countable and uncountable; plural dusts)

  1. (uncountable) 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, etc.
  2. (countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.
    • 2010, Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England (page 150)
      […] once they start school, I mean you can do a room out one day, the next day it only needs a dust, doesn't it?

[edit] Translations

fine, dry particles
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Verb

dust (third-person singular simple present dusts, present participle dusting, simple past and past participle dusted)

  1. (transitive) to remove dust from
    The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.
  2. (intransitive) to remove dust; to clean by removing dust
    Dusting always makes me cough.
  3. (intransitive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth
  4. (transitive) to spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid
    The mother dusted her baby's bum with talcum powder.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

(intransitive) to clean by removing dust
(transitive) to remove dust from
of a bird, to cover itself in sand
to spray something with fine powder or liquid

[edit] See also

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Norwegian

[edit] Etymology 1

Back-formation of dustet, from Old Norse dust (dust particle)

[edit] Noun

dust m.

  1. (pejorative) dork, moron, tool
[edit] Inflection
    Inflection of dust
indefinite singular definite singular indefinite plural definite plural
Bokmål m dust dusten duster dustene
Nynorsk m dust dusten dustar dustane
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] References
  • “dust” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary – Dokumentasjonsprosjektet.

[edit] Etymology 2

From Old Norse dust.

[edit] Noun

dust

  1. dust (fine, dry particles)
[edit] Inflection
    Inflection of dust
indefinite singular definite singular indefinite plural definite plural
Bokmål f dust dusta duster dustene
Bokmål m dust dusten duster dustene
Nynorsk f dust dusta [dusti] duster dustene
[edit] References
  • “dust” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary – Dokumentasjonsprosjektet.

[edit] Old English

[edit] Etymology

Proto-Germanic *dunst- (“dust, vapor”), from Proto-Indo-European *dheu- (“vapor, smoke”). Akin to Hindi dua "smoke", Old Dutch doest, donst (Dutch duist), German tunst, dunst "blowing wind, storm" (German Dunst), Low German dust "dust", Icelandic dust "dust", Norwegian dust "dust", Danish dyst

[edit] Noun

dūst n.

  1. dust; powder; mill dust

[edit] Declension

    Declension of dust (strong a-stem)
Singular Plural
nominative dūst dūst
accusative dūst dūst
genitive dūstes dūsta
dative dūste dūstum

[edit] Descendants

[edit] Old Norse

[edit] Noun

dust n.

  1. dust particle

[edit] Scottish Gaelic

[edit] Noun

dust m. (genitive dust, no plural)

  1. dust

[edit] Usage notes

  • Also used figuratively for corpse.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Derived terms

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