What does "dust" mean?
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, etc.
Dust
/dʌst/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: 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, etc.
- Grammar: dust is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: acres, air, air pollution, alluvion.
- Useful contrasts: bare surface, briquets, cleanliness.
- Usage evidence: Brush off the dust from your shoes.
How to use "dust"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "dust" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "dust" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "dust" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "dust" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "dust" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "acres" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "dust", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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, 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."
- 2 fine powdery material such as dry earth or pollen that can be blown about in the air wordnet
- 3 Fine particles.; Any substance reduced to fine particles; powder. uncountable
- 4 free microscopic particles of solid material wordnet
- 5 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."
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up wordnet
- 7 Fine particles.; Disintegration of a solid, like silica. uncountable
- 8 Fine particles.; Flour. Australia, dated, slang, uncountable
- 9 Fine particles.; A single fine, dry particle of earth or other material; grain of dust. countable, obsolete
"to touch a dust of England’s ground"
- 10 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?"
- 11 The act of sprinkling dust, or a sprinkle of dust itself. countable
- 12 Earth, ground, soil, sediment. countable, poetic, uncountable
"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; […]"
- 13 The earth as the resting place of the dead. countable, uncountable
"For now shall I sleep in the dust."
- 14 The earthly remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 15 The substance of the human body or mortal frame. countable, figuratively, uncountable
- 16 Something worthless. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust."
- 17 A low or mean condition. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"[God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust."
- 18 Rubbish, garbage, refuse. British, colloquial, countable, uncountable
- 19 cash; money (in reference to gold dust). countable, dated, slang, uncountable
"‘And what do you ask for it?’ ‘Fifteen thousand dollars.’ ‘I’ll take it.’ ‘Then down with the dust.’"
- 20 A cloud of dust. countable
- 21 A tumult, disturbance, commotion, uproar. countable, figuratively
"to raise, or kick up, a dust"
- 22 A fight or row. colloquial, countable
- 23 A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure. countable
- 24 Tiny amounts of cryptocurrency left over after a transaction due to rounding error. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To remove dust from. transitive
"The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard."
- 2 remove the dust from wordnet
- 3 To remove dust; to clean by removing dust. intransitive
"Dusting always makes me cough."
- 4 rub the dust over a surface so as to blur the outlines of a shape wordnet
- 5 To make dusty, to soil with dust. archaic, transitive
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 distribute loosely wordnet
- 7 Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth. intransitive, reflexive
- 8 cover with a light dusting of a substance wordnet
- 9 To spray or cover (something) with fine powder or liquid, to sprinkle. transitive
"The mother dusted her baby’s bum with talcum powder."
- 10 To sprinkle (a substance) in the form of dust. transitive
- 11 To leave quickly; to rush off. US, intransitive, slang
"He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust. I’d like to talk to you a little, soldier.’"
- 12 To drink up quickly; to toss off. obsolete, transitive
- 13 To reduce to a fine powder; to pulverize, to levigate. obsolete, transitive
"good Powder differs from bad […]in having more Peter and less Coal; and lastly, in the well dusting of it"
- 14 To strike, beat, thrash. colloquial, dialectal, transitive
- 15 To defeat badly, to thrash. US, slang, transitive
- 16 To kill. US, slang, transitive
"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."
- 17 To deliberately pitch a ball close to (a batter); to brush back. transitive
- 18 To attempt to identify the owner of (a cryptocurrency wallet) by sending tiny amounts of cryptocurrency.
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Brush off the dust from your shoes."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "dust"?
Common synonyms include: acres, air, air pollution, alluvion, alluvium, altercation.
How do you use "dust" in a sentence?
Brush off the dust from your shoes.
How do you pronounce "dust"?
Pronounced /dʌst/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
* As an English surname, from the noun dust. * As a north German surname, from the noun Dust with the same meaning as above, from Middle Low German and Old Saxon dust, from Proto-Germanic *dustą.