dust

dust
—dustless, adj.
/dust/, n.
1. earth or other matter in fine, dry particles.
2. a cloud of finely powdered earth or other matter in the air.
3. any finely powdered substance, as sawdust.
4. the ground; the earth's surface.
5. the substance to which something, as the dead human body, is ultimately reduced by disintegration or decay; earthly remains.
6. Brit.
a. ashes, refuse, etc.
b. junk1 (def. 1).
7. a low or humble condition.
8. anything worthless.
9. disturbance; turmoil.
10. See gold dust.
11. the mortal body of a human being.
12. a single particle or grain.
13. Archaic. money; cash.
14. bite the dust,
a. to be killed, esp. in battle; die.
b. to suffer defeat; be unsuccessful; fail: Another manufacturer has bitten the dust.
15. leave one in the dust, to overtake and surpass a competitor or one who is less ambitious, qualified, etc.: Don't be so meek, they'll leave you in the dust.
16. lick the dust,
a. to be killed; die.
b. to humble oneself abjectly; grovel: He will resign rather than lick the dust.
17. make the dust fly, to execute with vigor or speed: We turned them loose on the work, and they made the dust fly.
18. shake the dust from one's feet, to depart in anger or disdain; leave decisively or in haste, esp. from an unpleasant situation: As the country moved toward totalitarianism, many of the intelligentsia shook the dust from their feet.
19. throw dust in someone's eyes, to mislead; deceive: He threw dust in our eyes by pretending to be a jeweler and then disappeared with the diamonds.
v.t.
20. to wipe the dust from: to dust a table.
21. to sprinkle with a powder or dust: to dust rosebushes with an insecticide.
22. to strew or sprinkle (a powder, dust, or other fine particles): to dust insecticide on a rosebush.
23. to soil with dust; make dusty.
v.i.
24. to wipe dust from furniture, woodwork, etc.
25. to become dusty.
26. to apply dust or powder to a plant, one's body, etc.: to dust with an insecticide in late spring.
27. dust off,
a. Baseball. (of a pitcher) to throw the ball purposely at or dangerously close to (the batter).
b. to take out or prepare for use again, as after a period of inactivity or storage: I'm going to dust off my accounting skills and try to get a job in the finance department.
c. to beat up badly: The gang of hoodlums dusted off a cop.
[bef. 900; ME; OE dust; c. G Dunst vapor]

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

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

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”