DictionaryAI

dust

DUST/dʌst/

Pluraldusts (some meanings)

Verbdusts, dusting, dusted

28 meanings of dust

Practice

  1. 1
    noununcountable
    Fine, dry particles of dirt or other matter that float in the air, rise in clouds, or settle on surfaces.

    She wiped a thick film of dust off the windowsill.

    Desert winds filled the sky with fine dust for days.

    UsageSay a lot of dust or a layer of dust, and covered in/with dust.

    Similardirt

    Note

    The everyday sense keeps the word's oldest meaning: Old English dūst already named dry earth reduced to powder.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The everyday meaning continues Old English dūst, meaning dry earth reduced to powder. old-engli.sh
  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To remove dust from a surface or object by wiping or brushing it, or to do this as part of household cleaning.

    We dust the bookshelves once a week.

    She dusted the mantelpiece with a soft rag.

    UsageDust a shelf means clean it; dust a cake with sugar means cover it. A powder after with usually means covering.

    Similarwipe, clean

    Note

    The verb points two ways, and this is the one that takes dust away; its opposite puts powder on.

  3. 3
    crushed materialnoununcountable
    A fine powder produced when any substance is broken down into very small particles.

    The explosion reduced the rock to a gray dust.

    Workers swept up the metal dust from the workshop floor.

    UsageOften after a noun naming its source (metal dust, rock dust) and in reduce something to dust.

    Similarpowder

    Note

    The widening from earth to any ground-down material is as old as the word. Old English dūst already covered other dry matter reduced to powder, not only soil.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The sense of dust as powdered material other than soil was already present in Old English. upload.wikimedia.org
  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To sprinkle a fine powder, such as sugar, flour, or makeup, lightly over something so that it is thinly covered.

    Before the party, she dusted her cheeks with a shimmering powder.

    Small planes dust the cotton fields with insecticide every summer.

    UsageUsually dust something with a powder: dust the cake with sugar.

    Similarsprinkle, powder

  5. 5
    astronomynoununcountable
    Fine solid grains in outer space, mostly smaller than a micron and made largely of silicates and carbon compounds, that absorb and scatter starlight.

    Interstellar dust scatters and absorbs starlight, reddening the objects behind it.

    Astronomers map cosmic dust to correct their brightness measurements.

    Note

    Extinction is the astronomer's word for light lost on the way, and these grains cause much of it. They scatter and absorb blue light more strongly than red, so stars seen through them look both dimmer and redder. The dust need not drift between stars: in 2020, dust shed by Betelgeuse itself was considered as the cause of that star's sudden fading.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Astronomical extinction includes the loss of starlight through absorption and scattering by dust. ned.ipac.caltech.edu
    • Dust absorbs and scatters blue light more strongly than red light. cesar.esa.int
    • Stars viewed through dust appear dimmer and redder. cesar.esa.int
    • Dust can obscure a star from its immediate surroundings; in 2020, dust formed from material expelled by Betelgeuse was proposed to explain its sudden fading. science.nasa.gov
  6. 6
    a sprinklingnouncountable
    An act of sprinkling fine powder, or the light layer of powder so produced.

    A final dust of paprika gives the deviled eggs their color.

    The makeup artist finished with a dust of translucent powder across the actor's forehead.

    UsageUsually a dust of something (a dust of paprika); a dusting of is the more common form.

    Similarsprinkling, sprinkle, scattering

  7. 7
    nounliterarycountable or uncountable
    The earth or ground, especially in literary use, often as the place where the dead are buried.

    The pilgrims knelt and pressed their hands to the ancient dust.

    Empires rise and fall, and their cities sink back into the dust.

    UsageUsually the dust, as in sink back into the dust; in everyday prose, earth or soil is the plain word.

    Similarearth, ground, soil

    Note

    Poetry uses the word for the ground itself, often on a vast scale. In Tennyson's In Memoriam (1850), streams wear down ancient hills and "sow the dust of continents to be": sediment laid down for lands not yet made.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Alfred Tennyson wrote In Memoriam. en.wikisource.org
    • In Memoriam was first published in 1850, as dated on its first-edition title page. en.wikisource.org
    • The quotation is accurate; its surrounding lines describe streams eroding ancient hills and depositing material for future continents. en.wikisource.org
  8. 8
    nouncountable or uncountable
    The human body seen as mortal earth, especially what remains of it after death or the earth of the grave where it lies.

    He spoke of how all flesh eventually crumbles into dust.

    At the funeral, the pastor reminded everyone that we all return to dust.

    UsageOften with a possessive (my dust) and in return to dust and ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

    Similarearth, clay

    Note

    This sense means the remains themselves rather than the ground that holds them. In Tennyson's "St. Simeon Stylites" (1842), the saint asks for a shrine to be carved "about my dust", placing the word beside relics and bones. The burial formula "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" keeps it familiar.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Alfred Tennyson wrote "St. Simeon Stylites", published in 1842. en.wikipedia.org
    • The poem was first published in 1842. gutenberg.org
    • The speaker is Simeon Stylites, who envisages a shrine "about my dust", alongside references to his relics and bones. en.wikisource.org
    • "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" occurs in a burial formula. en.wikisource.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of dust apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English "dust," from Old English "dūst" (dust, dried earth reduced to powder), from a fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (dust) and *dunstą (mist, evaporation), both probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (to smoke, raise dust). It is related to Dutch "duist" (pollen, dust), German "Dunst" (haze), and Latin "fūmus" (smoke, steam).

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 8 facts

  • English dust descends through Middle English dust from Old English dūst. names.org
  • Old English dūst meant dust or dried earth reduced to powder. names.org
  • The English word reflects a fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą and *dunstą. names.org
  • Proto-Germanic *dustą meant dust. en.wiktionary.org
  • Proto-Germanic *dunstą meant mist or evaporation. en.wiktionary.org
  • Dutch duist is related and means pollen or dust. names.org
  • German Dunst is related and means haze. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin fūmus is related and means smoke or steam. en.wiktionary.org