dust

There is so much dust released during the process of laying ballast that the trackside operator wears a full face mask with respirator.

2022 September 7, “East-West track laying heads westwards”, in RAIL, number 965, page 37, photo caption:

(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.

(uncountable) Any substance reduced to fine particles; powder.

Astronomers have previously considered that dust produced by the star was obscuring it, causing the steep decline in brightness.

2020 June 29, Paun Rincon, “Betelgeuse: Nearby ‘supernova’ star’s dimming explained”, in BBC News:

(uncountable, astronomy) Submicron particles in outer space, largely silicates and carbon compounds, that contribute greatly to extinction at visible wavelengths.

(uncountable, occupational health) Disintegration of a solid, like silica.

Fine particles.
Disintegration of a solid, like silica.

(uncountable, Australia, slang, dated) Flour.

to touch a dust of England’s ground

1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

(countable, obsolete) A single fine, dry particle of earth or other material; grain of dust.

[…]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:

(countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.

(countable) The act of sprinkling dust, or a sprinkle of dust itself.

But I should turn mine ears and hear
The moanings of the homeless sea,
The sound of streams that swift or slow
Draw down Æonian hills, and sow
The dust of continents to be; […]

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXXV, page 54:

For now shall I sleep in the dust.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 7:21:

The earth as the resting place of the dead.

For I will leave my relics in your land, / And you may carve a shrine about my dust, / And burn a fragrant lamp before my bones, / When I am gather’d to the glorious saints.

1833 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “St. Simeon Stylites”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 62:

The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.

(figurative) The substance of the human body or mortal frame.

And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust.

c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

[God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 2:8:

(British, colloquial) Rubbish, garbage, refuse.

‘And what do you ask for it?’ ‘Fifteen thousand dollars.’ ‘I’ll take it.’ ‘Then down with the dust.’

1852, George Colvocoresses, Four Years in a Government Exploring Expedition:

(slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).

to raise, or kick up, a dust

(countable, figurative) A tumult, disturbance, commotion, uproar.

(countable, mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.

(cryptocurrencies) Tiny amounts of cryptocurrency left over after a transaction due to rounding error.

en-noun

dust (countable and uncountable, plural dusts)

→ Russian: дуст (dust)

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.


dust

The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.

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.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Dusting always makes me cough.

(intransitive) To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.

(transitive, archaic) To make dusty, to soil with dust.

(intransitive or reflexive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.

The mother dusted her baby’s bum with talcum powder.

(transitive) To spray or cover (something) with fine powder or liquid, to sprinkle.

(transitive) To sprinkle (a substance) in the form of dust.

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, published 2011, page 75:

(intransitive, chiefly US slang) To leave quickly; to rush off.

(transitive, obsolete) To drink up quickly; to toss off.

good Powder differs from bad […]in having more Peter and less Coal; and lastly, in the well dusting of it

1667, Thomas Sprat, History of the Royal Society of London:

(transitive, obsolete) To reduce to a fine powder; to pulverize, to levigate.

(transitive, now colloquial or dialectal) To strike, beat, thrash.

(transitive, chiefly US slang) To defeat badly, to thrash.

Kyle Reese: You have to be careful because the [Hunter-Killer robots] use infrared. They’re not too bright. John taught us ways to dust them.

1984, The Terminator, spoken by Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), Los Angeles, Calif.: Orion Pictures; distributed by MGM Home Entertainment, published 1984:

(transitive, baseball) To deliberately pitch a ball close to (a batter); to brush back.

(cryptocurrencies) To attempt to identify the owner of (a cryptocurrency wallet) by sending tiny amounts of cryptocurrency.

en-verb

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

dusts (present singular third-person)
dusting (participle present)
dusted (participle past)
dusted (past)

бърша прах

(intransitive) to clean by removing dust

поръсвам

to spray something with fine powder or liquid


dust

fo-noun

dust n (genitive singular dusts, uncountable)

dusts (genitive singular)
dust (indefinite nominative singular)
dustið (definite nominative singular)
dust (accusative indefinite singular)
dustið (accusative definite singular)
dusti (dative indefinite singular)
dustinum (dative definite singular)
dusts (genitive indefinite singular)
dustsins (definite genitive singular)


dust

head

dust n (genitive singular dusts, no plural)

dusts (genitive singular)
dust (indefinite nominative singular)
dustið (definite nominative singular)
dust (accusative indefinite singular)
dustið (accusative definite singular)
dusti (dative indefinite singular)
dustinu (dative definite singular)
dusts (genitive indefinite singular)
dustsins (definite genitive singular)


dust

English: dust

Scots: dust, dist

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.


dust

dusten (definite singular)
duster (indefinite plural)
dustene (definite plural)

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


dust

dusta (definite singular)
dusten (definite singular)
duster (indefinite plural)
dustene (definite plural)


dust

dusten (definite singular)
dustar (indefinite plural)
dustane (definite plural)

From Old Norse dust (dust particle), compare with dustete.


dust

dusta (definite singular)
duster (indefinite plural)
dustene (definite plural)


dust

dūst (canonical neuter)
dūst (nominative singular)
dūst (nominative plural)
dūst (accusative singular)
dūst (accusative plural)
dūstes (genitive singular)
dūsta (genitive plural)
dūste (dative singular)
dūstum (dative plural)

Middle English: dust, doust

English: dust

Scots: dust, dist

From Proto-Germanic *dunstą (“dust, vapour”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (“vapour, smoke”). Akin to Hindi धुआं (dhuā̃, “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.


dust

Icelandic: dust

Faroese: dust

Norwegian: dust

Swedish: dust

Danish: dyst


dust

head

dust m (genitive singular dust, no plural)


dust

(figuratively) a (minor) verbal or physical confrontation, a bout, a tussle, a run-in

dust (indefinite nominative singular)
dusten (definite nominative singular)
duster (indefinite nominative plural)
dusterna (definite nominative plural)
dusts (genitive indefinite singular)
dustens (definite genitive singular)
dusters (genitive indefinite plural)
dusternas (definite genitive plural)

Inherited from Old Swedish dust, duster, diost, from Middle Low German dust, diost, from Old French joste, juste, from Latin juxta. Cognate of Danish dyst, French joute.


dust

side; one half (left or right, top or bottom, front or back, etc.) of something or someone.