/ dʌst; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ U ] a fine powder that consists of very small pieces of sand, earth, etc. :
A cloud of dust rose as the truck drove off.
The workers wear masks to avoid inhaling the dust.
—see also cosmic dust
2.
the fine powder of dirt that forms in buildings, on furniture, floors, etc. :
The books were all covered with dust.
There wasn't a speck of dust anywhere in the room.
That guitar's been sitting gathering dust (= not being used) for years now.
3.
a fine powder that consists of very small pieces of a particular substance :
coal / gold dust
—see also dusty
•
IDIOMS
- leave sb in the dust
- let the dust settle | wait for the dust to settle
—more at bite verb
■ verb
1.
to clean furniture, a room, etc. by removing dust from surfaces with a cloth :
[ v ]
I broke the vase while I was dusting.
[ vn ]
Could you dust the sitting room?
2.
[ vn , usually + adv. / prep. ] to remove dirt from sb/sth/yourself with your hands or a brush :
She dusted some ash from her sleeve.
3.
[ vn ] dust sth (with sth) to cover sth with fine powder :
Dust the cake with sugar.
•
IDIOMS
see done
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- dust sb/sth down
- dust sb/sth off
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English dūst , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch duist chaff.