dust

Fine particles.; 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, fiber debris, dead skin cells, etc.uncountable

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

Fine particles.; Any substance reduced to fine particles; powder.uncountable

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

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

Fine particles.; Disintegration of a solid, like silica.uncountable

Fine particles.; Flour.Australiadatedslang

Fine particles.; A single fine, dry particle of earth or other material; grain of dust.countableobsolete

• to touch a dust of England’s ground

The act of cleaning by dusting.countable

• […]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?

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

Earth, ground, soil, sediment.countablepoeticuncountable

• 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; […]

The earth as the resting place of the dead.countableuncountable

• For now shall I sleep in the dust.

To remove dust from.transitive

• The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.

To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.intransitive

• Dusting always makes me cough.

To make dusty, to soil with dust.archaictransitive

Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.intransitivereflexive

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

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

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

To leave quickly; to rush off.USintransitiveslang

• He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust. I’d like to talk to you a little, soldier.’

To drink up quickly; to toss off.obsoletetransitive

To reduce to a fine powder; to pulverize, to levigate.obsoletetransitive

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

To strike, beat, thrash.colloquialdialectaltransitive