Dust Definition
- detritus
- rubble
- debris
- junk
- stive (in flour mills). associatedwords: pulverizable
- pulverulence
- pulverize
- pulverization
- pulverable
- mote
- powder
- be servile
- Mormon rain
- sawdust; devil's snow
- filings
- Far behind, as in a race or competition:
a marketing strategy that left our competitors in the dust.
- To go about a task with great energy and speed.
- to die, esp. in battle
- to stop existing or functioning; fail, break, etc.
- to prepare to use
- to surpass or outstrip readily
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Dust
- in the dust
- make the dust fly
- bite the dust
- dust off
- leave in the dust
- lick the dust
- make the dust fly
- shake the dust off one's feet
- throw dust in someone's eyes
Origin of Dust
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From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dust, dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and Proto-Germanic *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewes-, *dʰews-, *dʰwAn-, *dʰūw- (“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.
From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old English dūst
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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