DUST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dust mean? 

• DUST (noun)
  The noun DUST has 3 senses:

1. fine powdery material such as dry earth or pollen that can be blown about in the air

2. the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up

3. free microscopic particles of solid material

  Familiarity information: DUST used as a noun is uncommon.

• DUST (verb)
  The verb DUST has 4 senses:

1. remove the dust from

2. rub the dust over a surface so as to blur the outlines of a shape

3. cover with a light dusting of a substance

4. distribute loosely

  Familiarity information: DUST used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DUST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fine powdery material such as dry earth or pollen that can be blown about in the air

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Context example:

the furniture was covered with dust

Hypernyms ("dust" is a kind of...):

particulate; particulate matter (a small discrete mass of solid or liquid matter that remains individually dispersed in gas or liquid emissions (usually considered to be an atmospheric pollutant))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dust"):

chalk dust (dust resulting from writing with a piece of chalk)

fallout; radioactive dust (the radioactive particles that settle to the ground after a nuclear explosion)

Derivation:

dust (remove the dust from)

dusty (covered with a layer of dust)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

debris; detritus; dust; junk; rubble

Hypernyms ("dust" is a kind of...):

rubbish; scrap; trash (worthless material that is to be disposed of)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dust"):

slack (dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve)

Derivation:

dust (rub the dust over a surface so as to blur the outlines of a shape)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Free microscopic particles of solid material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Context example:

astronomers say that the empty space between planets actually contains measurable amounts of dust

Hypernyms ("dust" is a kind of...):

material; stuff (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dust"):

interplanetary dust (microscopic particles in the interplanetary medium)

Derivation:

dust (distribute loosely)

dust (cover with a light dusting of a substance)

• DUST (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they dust    ... he / she / it dusts   
Past simple: dusted   
Past participle: dusted   
-ing form: dusting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove the dust from

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

dust the cabinets

Hypernyms (to "dust" is one way to...):

clean; make clean (make clean by removing dirt, filth, or unwanted substances from)

"Dust" entails doing...:

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

dust (fine powdery material such as dry earth or pollen that can be blown about in the air)

duster (a piece of cloth used for dusting)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Rub the dust over a surface so as to blur the outlines of a shape

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The artist dusted the charcoal drawing down to a faint image

Hypernyms (to "dust" is one way to...):

blur; smear; smudge; smutch (make a smudge on; soil by smudging)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They dust sugar over the cake

Derivation:

dust (the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cover with a light dusting of a substance

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

dust the bread with flour

Hypernyms (to "dust" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They dust the cake with sugar

Derivation:

dust (free microscopic particles of solid material)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Distribute loosely

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

disperse; dot; dust; scatter; sprinkle

Context example:

He scattered gun powder under the wagon

Hypernyms (to "dust" is one way to...):

discharge (pour forth or release)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dust"):

spray (scatter in a mass or jet of droplets)

spray (be discharged in sprays of liquid)

plash; spatter; splash; splatter; splosh; swash (dash a liquid upon or against)

splash; splosh; sprinkle (cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force)

bespangle (dot or sprinkle with sparkling or glittering objects)

aerosolise; aerosolize (disperse as an aerosol)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

dust (free microscopic particles of solid material)

 Context examples 

The weekend of January 25-26 will be sprinkled with pixie dust thanks to the signals between Venus and Neptune.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

He had understood nothing, and the only idea he had gathered was that evolution was a dry-as-dust theory, of a lot of little men possessed of huge and unintelligible vocabularies.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

She reached down and picked up the shoes, and after shaking the dust out of them handed them to Dorothy.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The puffy outer dust structure is like a donut-shaped inner tube that got hit by a truck.

(Hubble Finds Huge System of Dusty Material Enveloping the Young Star HR 4796A, NASA)

As the dust heats up, it radiates infrared light.

(The Most Luminous Galaxy in Universe, NASA)

Before the yellow balls popped up, volunteers had already noticed green bubbles with red centers, populating a landscape of swirling gas and dust.

(Citizen Scientists Discover Yellow "Space Balls", NASA)

It was furred outside by a thick layer of dust, and damp and worms had eaten through the wood, so that a crop of livid fungi was growing on the inside of it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Its appearance and the dust upon the bottle showed that it was no common vintage which the murderers had enjoyed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was hard to believe that amongst so prosaic surroundings of neglect and dust and decay there was any ground for such fear as already we knew.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

From its open mouth poured a yellow stream of coarse gold-dust and nuggets.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)