I. ˈdə]t, ˈdə̄], ˈdəi], usu ]d.+V noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: alteration of Middle English drit, from Old Norse, excrement; akin to Old English drītan to defecate, Old High German trīzan, Old Norse drīta to defecate, Latin foria diarrhea, Serbian driskati to have diarrhea, Lithuanian derkti to defecate
1.
a. excrement
warm steamy knobbles of sheep dirt getting crushed between my toes — Janet Frame
b. : mud or waste matter mixed with water
in summer there is dust, and in winter there is dirt — Jane Austen
c. : a foul or filthy substance that by adhering to a thing makes it unclean or foul
the crew gutted the catch and hosed the dirt through the scuppers
especially : an accumulation of dust, grit, refuse, waste, or litter
how to remove … dirt consisting of dust, pollen, and sooty particles — Pliotron
under its accumulated rust and dirt of five centuries — G.G.Coulton
d. : grime, spot, or stain resulting from travel, work, a fall, or other ordinary experience or from use
a chance to wash the dirt off his face
guaranteed to remove dirt from upholstery
e. archaic : something worthless
is yellow dirt the passion of thy life? — Alexander Pope
f. : a person to be treated with contempt
he's got beautiful manners. Doesn't chuck the stuff at you as if you were dirt like young Willis — Dorothy Sayers
g. : visible foreign matter that disfigures finished paper
2.
a.
(1) : earth , ground : loose or packed soil or sand
tons of rock and dirt slid into the canal
replacing dirt roads with macadam
(2) : the surface of the ground
alarmed at the first sound we hit the dirt
b. : land as property
a rare good little farm; a sound bit of dirt that is, sir — Adrian Bell
c. : a substance that is dug or comes from the earth
mining gold by means of dirt washing
d.
(1) : alluvial earth, gravel, and similar material in placer mining
(2) : broken ore and in coal mines slate and other foreign matter
e. dialect England : foul or flammable mine air
3.
a. : an abject or filthy state : squalor
ignorance and dirt are not necessary concomitants of poverty
b. : moral, obliquity : corruption , chicanery
the dirt of jealousy
there's more dirt to be uncovered at the capital
c. : moral uncleanness ; especially : licentiousness of language or theme
this leaves a rather amorphous concept of what obscenity may be … . Its one essential quality is dirt for dirts sake — Curtis Bok
a quite mistaken belief that to make his reader smell dirt is realism — H.J.Laski
d. : common scandalous gossip about discreditable personal behavior ; especially : malicious or slanderous gossip
a writer as much interested in writing dirt as in reporting the news
e. : suppressed information whose disclosure would be highly damaging
he thought … investigations should be started only after the most careful consideration and when there was real prospect of turning up dirt — Vance Johnson
f. : an underhanded or despicable trick — used as the object of do
wanting to do him dirt , she sent his wife a poison-pen letter
4. : dirty weather
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. archaic : to make foul : dirty
don't dog's-ear nor dirt them — R.H.Barham
2. : to cover with dirt ; especially : to draw soil up around the base of