dust
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
dust (countable and uncountable, plural dusts)
- (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.
- (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?
- 2010, Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England (page 150)
- (obsolete) A single particle of earth or other material.
- Shakespeare
- to touch a dust of England's ground
- Shakespeare
- The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
- Bible, Job vii. 21
- I shall sleep in the dust.
- Bible, Job vii. 21
- The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
- Tennyson
- And you may carve a shrine about my dust.
- Tennyson
- (figuratively) Something worthless.
- Shakespeare
- And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust.
- Shakespeare
- (figuratively) A low or mean condition.
- Bible, 1 Sam. ii. 8
- [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust.
- Bible, 1 Sam. ii. 8
- (slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
- (mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- 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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Verb[edit]
dust (third-person singular simple present dusts, present participle dusting, simple past and past participle dusted)
- (transitive) To remove dust from.
-
1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 12, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
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The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.
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- (intransitive) To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
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Dusting always makes me cough.
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- (intransitive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
- (transitive) To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.
-
The mother dusted her baby's bum with talcum powder.
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- (chiefly US slang) To leave; to rush off.
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, page 75:
- He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust. I'd like to talk to you a little, soldier.’
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, page 75:
- To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Sprat to this entry?)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- 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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
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See also[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Forms with a long vowel are from Old English dūst, from Proto-Germanic *dunstą. Forms with a short vowel are from Old English *dust, from Proto-Germanic *dustą.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
dust (uncountable)
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- “dū̆st (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-04.
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Back-formation of dustet, from Old Norse dust (dust particle)
Noun[edit]
dust m (definite singular dusten, indefinite plural duster, definite plural dustene)
- (pejorative) dork, moron, fool
Synonyms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
dust f, m (definite singular dusta or dusten, indefinite plural duster, definite plural dustene)
- dust (fine, dry particles)
References[edit]
- “dust” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Old Norse dust (dust particle), compare with dustete
Noun[edit]
dust m (definite singular dusten, indefinite plural dustar, definite plural dustane)
- (pejorative) dork, moron, fool
Synonyms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
dust f (definite singular dusta, indefinite plural duster, definite plural dustene)
- dust (fine, dry particles)
References[edit]
- “dust” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-Germanic *dunstą (“dust, vapor”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (“vapor, smoke”). Akin to Hindi धुआं (dhu'āṁ, “smoke”), Middle Dutch dost, donst, duust (Dutch dons, duist), Old High German tunst, dunst (German Dunst), Low German dust, Icelandic dust, Norwegian dust, Danish dyst.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
dūst n
Declension[edit]
Descendants[edit]
Old Norse[edit]
Noun[edit]
dust n
- dust particle
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- dust in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Scottish Gaelic[edit]
Noun[edit]
dust m (genitive singular dust, no plural)
Usage notes[edit]
- Also used figuratively for corpse.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English slang
- English dated terms
- en:Mathematics
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English intransitive verbs
- American English
- Requests for quotation/Sprat
- English basic words
- English contranyms
- English terms derived from the PIE root *dʰewh₂-
- en:Hygiene
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål pejoratives
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk pejoratives
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English lemmas
- Old English nouns
- Old English a-stem nouns
- Old Norse lemmas
- Old Norse nouns
- Old Norse neuter nouns
- Scottish Gaelic lemmas
- Scottish Gaelic nouns