▪ I. dust, n.1
(dʌst)
Forms: 1– dust: also 3 (Orm.) dusst, 3–5 doust(e, 4 dost, 4–6 duste.
[OE. d{uacu}st (later prob. dust) = OFris. and EFris. dûst, OLG., MLG., LG. dust, MDu. donst, dunst, dûst fine flour, Kilian duyst, donst, dûst, mod.Du. duist meal-dust, bran, ON. dust dust, Da. dyst mill-dust. All these go back to an earlier dunst, whence also Ger. dunst vapour; the primary notion being app. that which rises or is blown in a cloud, like vapour, smoke, or dust. See Kluge, and Franck.]
1. a. Earth or other solid matter in a minute and fine state of subdivision, so that the particles are small and light enough to be easily raised and carried in a cloud by the wind; any substance comminuted or pulverized; powder. (Rarely in pl.)
Often extended to include ashes and other refuse from a house: cf. dust-bin, etc.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalt. xvii[i]. 43 Swe swe dust biforan onsieme windes. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 290 Ᵹedriᵹede & to swyðe smælon duste ᵹecnucude. c 1205 Lay. 27646 Þenne he þat dust [c 1275 doust] heȝe Aȝiueð from þere eorðe. 1340 Ayenb. 108 Of motes and of doust wyþ oute tale. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii clix. (1495) 708 To clense houses of duste. c 1450 Two Cookery-bks. 112 Bray hem al to doust in a morter. 1583 Hollyband Campo di Fior 367 Beate these upper hose that the dust maye come out. 1620 Nottingham Rec. IV. 367 Presentmentes..for castinge theire dust and ashes into the highe way. 1760 Wesley Jrnl. 19 Aug., We had..showers, which..laid the dust. 1886 A. Winchell Walks & Talks Geol. Field 212 Clouds of cosmic dust intervene between us and the sun. 1894 Daily News 26 June 8/3 Of the whole of the dusts tested, that from the Albion Colliery..excelled all others in violence and sensitiveness to explosion. |
b. The fine or small particles separated in any process:
cf. sawdust;
spec. (see
quot. 1828).
| 1552 Huloet, Duste of corne, mettall, or anye other thinge that commeth of wyth fylynge and clensing. 1598 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1814) 179 (Jam.) Paying alss deir for dust and seidis as gif the samyn wes guid meill. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies (1645) I. 22 It will..swimme upon the water like dust of wood. 1794 T. Davis Agric. Wilts in Archæol. Rev. (1888) Mar., Cave, or dust, the chaff of the wheat and oats which is generally given to the horse. 1828 Craven Dial., Dust, the small particles separated from the oats in the act of shelling. |
c. Applied to the pollen of flowers.
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants i. xxii, The fine dust or meal that is contained in the Tips, is thrown upon the Summit of the Pointal. 1807 J. E. Smith Phys. Bot. 272 The Pollen, or Dust, is contained in the Anther. 1894 H. Drummond Ascent of Man 301 The butterfly and the bee..carry the fertilizing dust to the waiting stigma. |
2. With
a and
pl. a. A grain of dust, a minute particle of dry matter;
b. in
Cookery, etc., a small ‘pinch’ of something in the form of powder.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 91 Why haue these banish'd..Legges Dar'd once to touch a Dust of Englands Ground? 1595 ― John iv. i. 93 A graine, a dust, a gnat, a wandering haire. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 105 'Tis impossible to put so much as one jot or dust unto bulk, beyond a set or bounded number. 1701 Watts Horæ Lyr., True Monarchy 52 Wealth and fame A bubble or a dust. 1784 M. Underwood Treat. Dis. Children (1799) I. 54 With, or without, a dust of grated nutmeg. a 1854 C. A. Southey Poet. Wks. (1867) 50 If a mote, a hair, a dust prepond On Inclination's side, down drops the scale. |
c. (With
a) A cloud of dust floating in the air, such as is raised by a vehicle driven or a crowd walking over dusty ground, or by sweeping, etc.
| 1570–81 [see 4 and 5]. 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 188 Oh what a dust do I raise. 1806 Oracle in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1807) X. 53 To kick up the d―l of a dust in Rotten-row. Mod. What a dust you are making! |
3. transf. and
fig. (from 1.)
a. That to which anything is reduced by disintegration or decay;
spec. the ‘ashes’, or mouldered remains of a dead body. Also in phrases denoting the condition of being dead and buried (
laid in the dust, etc.).
| ? a 1000 Martyrol. (E.E.T.S.) 74 Þæt hi mihton mid heora handum ræcan ond niman þæs halᵹan dustes. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4124 Many a day hade i be ded and to dust roted. 1388 Wyclif Ps. xxi[i]. 16 Thou hast brouȝt forth me in to the dust of deth. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 225 Why may not imagination trace the Noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bunghole? 1676 I. Mather Hist. K. Philip's War (1862) 38 That Great Author, unto whose dust..I owe a sacred Reverence. 1750 Gray Elegy xi, Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust? 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 263 One, without whose friendly aid the hand which writes this would long since have been in the dust. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xi. §2. 40 Worthier dust lies east and west of him. |
b. Applied to the mortal frame of man (usually in reference to
Gen. ii. 7, iii. 19).
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. iii. 19 For þan þe þu eart dust, and to dust wyrst. Ibid. xviii. 27 Nu ic æne begann to sprecanne to minum Drihtene þonne ic eom dust and axe. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 223 Þu æart dust, and þu awenst to duste. 1388 Wyclif Ps. cii[i]. 14 He bithouȝte that we ben dust. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. ix. 76 Þouȝ I be dust & asshen. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Burial, Earth to earth, asshes to asshes, dust to dust. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 11, How covetous, how proude is dust and ashes of dust and earth. 1814 Cary Dante, Par. ii. 133 The soul, that dwells within your dust. 18.. Sir R. Grant Hymn, ‘O worship the King’ v, Frail children of dust, And feeble as frail. |
c. In phrases denoting a condition of humiliation.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter Cant. 501 Raysand þe nedy out of dust. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxi[i]. 9 His enemies shal licke the dust. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iii. 29 Now France, thy glory droopeth to the dust. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 416 The Power..That rais'd us from the dust and plac't us here. 1718 Watts Ps. li. iii. vi, My soul lies humbled in the dust. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. Prol. iii, Thou wilt not leave us in the dust. 1894 C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 186 The Navy that..humbled to the dust the pride of France. |
d. As the type of that which is worthless.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23786 For a littel lust, A druri þat es bot a dust. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 282 Thus whiles they search for gold and silver, they search for dust and sand. 1694 Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 168 A Long-boat he [the whale] values no more than Dust. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. ix. 296 The rights conferred by charter [were] treated as dust. |
e. In other figurative uses.
| 1620 T. Granger Syntag. Logic. 382 Besprinkled with the powder, or dust of veniall imperfections. 1682 Earl of Anglesea Pref. to Whitelocke's Mem., The dust of action [had] never fallen on his gown. 1699 Bentley Phal. (1836) II. 29 The very dust of his writings is gold. |
f. dust and ashes (in allusion to the legend of the Dead Sea Fruit): used to indicate severe disappointment or disillusionment.
| 1902 W. James Var. Relig. Exper. vi. 143 Trustful self-abandonment to the joys that freely offer has entirely departed from both Epicurean and Stoic; and what each proposes is a way of rescue from the resultant dust-and-ashes state of mind. 1911 Beerbohm Zuleika D. xxi. 310 But there was no spark of triumph now in her eyes; only a deep melancholy; and in her mouth a taste as of dust and ashes. 1930 A. Huxley Vulgarity in Literature iii. 13 The spirit of the time..demands that we should ‘press with strenuous tongue against our palate’ not only joy's grape, but every Dead Sea fruit. Even dust and ashes must be relished. 1945 ― Let. 2 Apr. (1969) 518 The most wildly romantic adventures all turned into dust and ashes. |
4. Phrases.
to shake the dust off one's feet (in allusion to
Matt. x. 14, etc.).
to throw dust in the eyes of: to confuse, mislead, or dupe by making ‘blind’ to the actual facts of the case.
to bite the dust: to fall to the ground;
esp. to fall wounded or slain (see also
bite v. 16). For other phrases, see senses 3 and 5.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. x. 14 Asceacaþ þæt dust of eowrum fotum. 1382 Wyclif Matt. x. 14 Ȝee goynge forth fro that hous, or citee, smytith awey the dust fro ȝoure feet. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 27 b, They doe nothing else but raise a dust to doe out their owne eies. 1612 Crt. & Times Jas. I (1849) I. 169 To countermine his underminers, and, as he termed it, to cast dust in their eyes. 1767 Franklin Wks. (1887) IV. 79 It required a long discourse to throw dust in the eyes of common sense. 1856 C. J. Andersson Lake Ngami 94 In the course of half an hour, he had twice bitten the dust. Ibid. 363 He..had made numerous lions bite the dust. 1862 Colenso Pentateuch 6, I was not able long to throw dust in the eyes of my own mind and do violence to the love of truth in this way. |
5. a. fig. (from 2 c.) Confusion, disturbance, commotion, turmoil (as of a conflict in which much dust is raised); formerly chiefly in
phr. to raise a dust, to make a disturbance; now only with conscious reference to the literal sense (
exc. as in b).
| c 1570 Marr. Wit & Science v. v. in Hazl. Dodsley II. 390 A doughty dust these four boys will do. 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. (1650) 220 This particular concerning Tithes hath raised no little dust in the Church of God. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 118 That quarrel and raise a Dust about nothing. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 161 Great contest follows, and much learned dust Involves the combatants. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 4 Entering heart and soul into the dust and heat of the Church's war with the world. |
b. Hence (
slang or
colloq.) A disturbance, uproar, ‘row’, ‘shindy’.
| 1753 A. Murphy Gray's-Inn Jrnl. No. 50 Mr. Buck..will..then adjourn to kick up a Dust. 1774 Westm. Mag. II. 380 Several of the company, not satisfied..in the language of the Bucks, kicked up a dust. 1805 F. D. Romney in Naval Chron. XIV. 493 This dust has cut me up. 1859 De Quincey Ceylon Wks. XII. 16 Soon there would be a dust with the new master. |
6. slang. Money, cash;
esp. in
phr. down with the († your) dust.
| [1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 23 b, Neuer wery to labour for this erthly dust & rychesse.] 1607 G. Wilkins Miseries Enforced Marr. iv. in Hazl. Dodsley IX. 531 Come, down with your dust. 1691 H. Maydman in Naval Chron. XV. 210 He..is not willing to down with his dust. 1753 Smollett Ct. Fathom (1813) I. 122, I have more dust in my fob than all these powdered sparks put together. a 1845 Hood Dean & Chapter ii, And make it come down with the dust. |
7. = dust-brand.
8. Comb. a. attrib. Consisting of or relating to dust, as
dust-atomy,
dust-bath,
dust-cloud,
dust-haze,
dust-heap (also
fig.),
dust-particle,
dust-screen,
dust-spout,
dust-whirl; used for the reception or conveyance of dust, as
dust-basket,
dust-cart,
dust-cellar,
dust-wharf,
dust-yard (also
fig.).
b. objective and
obj. genitive, as
dust-catcher,
dust-collector,
dust-contractor,
dust-shovelling,
dust-sifter,
dust-sifting,
dust-throwing;
dust-catching,
dust-free,
dust-laying,
dust-licking,
dust-producing,
dust-proof,
dust-raising adjs. c. instrumental and locative, as
dust-begrimed,
dust-born,
dust-clogged,
dust-covered,
dust-creeping,
dust-filled,
dust-laden,
dust-polluted,
dust-soiled adjs. d. similative, as
dust-dry,
dust-grey,
dust-white adjs.; also
dust-like adj.| 1839 Bailey Festus vi. (1848) 59 Are not all equal as *dust-atomies? |
| 1626 T. Loate in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 478 George's desk, and his sword, and a *dust basket. |
| 1891 C. T. C. James Rom. Rigmarole 33 Taking a *dust-bath there in the centre of the roadway. |
| 1870 Bryant Iliad I. xi. 339 Blood-stained and *dust-begrimed. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. ii. Imposture 483 Till..Death..Thy *dust-born body turn to dust again. |
| 1776 Entick London I. 187 A tumbrel or *dust-cart. 1812 Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 21 Every species of carriage from the chariot to the dust-cart. |
| 1939 D. R. G. Crawford Gas Producer Operator's Handbk. v. 70 The simple gas-cleaning plant..is for use..where a clean cool gas is required... Where hot raw gas is required the complete cleaning plant is replaced by a static *dust-catcher. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 273/1 Dust catcher, a chamber in which dust is extracted from furnace gases by causing a sudden change in the direction of the gas stream. 1953 D. J. O. Brandt Manuf. Iron & Steel viii. 64 This will normally lead direct to the dust-catcher. |
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 428/1 A *dust-catching apparatus has been..erected at Edinburgh. |
| 1894 H. Nisbet Bush Girl's Romance xxxi. 293 The bushranger's *dust-clogged brow became corrugated. |
| 1849 Whittier Wife of Manoah 16 The thick *dust-cloud closed o'er all. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. (1861) II. 188 (Hoppe) The *dust-contractors are likewise the contractors for the cleansing of the streets. |
| a 1847 Eliza Cook Old Clock i, Thy *dust-covered face. |
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 97 Such a *dust-creeping worme as I am. |
| 1879 Browning Ned Bratts 4 Ponds drained *dust-dry. |
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 25 July 3/2 A man with a *dust-filled throat. |
| 1925 Shaw & Owens Smoke Probl. Gt. Cities xi. 211 When breathing dust-laden air, it is only after long periods of quiet breathing that the air from the deep parts of the lungs is *dust free. 1934 Discovery July 184/1 Bringing the surfaces together in a clean and dust-free condition. |
| 1882 Ouida Maremma I. 51 The misty scorching *dust-grey shores. |
| 1925 Shaw & Owens Smoke Probl. Gt. Cities x. 197 Smoke or dust is normally dispersed in an upward direction..and it is evident from ordinary observations of *dust haze that the upper limit is sometimes very well defined. 1945 Finito! Po Valley Campaign 36 In the dust-haze..factories..collapsed in ruins. |
| 1654 Trapp Comm. Ps. xiii. 8 Such *dust-heaps are found in every corner. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 1 May 3/2 The Salvation Army deserves to be helped in its work of sifting the dust-heap of our lowest social strata. 1940 R. G. Collingwood Ess. Metaphys. 120 The distinction between truth and falsehood is part of that antiquated lumber which has at last..been thrown on the dust-heap. |
| a 1847 Eliza Cook Grandfather's Stick xi, The *dust-laden carpets. |
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 18 July 2/1 Water-carts sprayed the road with grateful *dust-laying streams. 1902 Ibid. 11 Sept. 7/3 Oil is the latest dust-laying agent. |
| 1808 R. A. D. To France in Poet. Reg. 1806–7, 170 Blood-drinking tyrants, or *dust-licking slaves! |
| 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 227 *Dust-like Dispaire may with me liue. |
| 1887 Pall Mall G. 10 Aug. 5/1 Operatives engaged in *dust-producing trades. |
| 1869 Rep. Comm. Agric. 1868 (U.S.) 15 The museum has been partly filled with absolutely *dust-proof cases. 1882 Leisure Hour 414/2 The fittings are massive and dust-proof. 1898 J. Southward Mod. Printing I. iv. 26 One of the most useful recent innovations is to make the racks ‘dust-proof’. 1903 Dust-proof [see benny1]. 1934 Archit. Rev. LXXV. 142/2 Dust-proof electric light fittings are available. |
| 1903 B. Harraden Kath. Frensham 272 A long, straggling, *dust-raising line of about 50 conveyances. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 22 Dec. 4/2 On the mere off⁓chance of minimising in an infinitesimal degree their dust-raising propensities. 1963 P. Drackett Motor Rallying i. 10 There were even dust-raising tests and noise checks. |
| 1899 W. H. Maxwell Removal of Town Refuse vii. 175 *Dust screens are ineffective. 1918 W. Owen Let. 15 June (1967) 559, I have now a waterproof tent with long grass & buttercups all round to act as dustscreens. |
| 1889 Pall Mall G. 5 Mar. 3/1 The female *dust-sifters had just completed their ablutions. |
| 1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) iii. xxxv. 205 Two *dust-spouts, tight and symmetrical chimneys, advanced. 1937 A. Huxley Let. 3 June (1969) 422 Western Texas, which we crossed in the midst of a premature heatwave (dust-spouts in a temperature of 105° in the shade). |
| 1890 Pall Mall G. 26 Aug. 2/3 The Ottoman art of *dust-throwing in the eyes of Europe. |
| 1887 Courier 16 June 2/2 To let or sell to the Board a *dust-wharf. |
| 1886 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. CXXI. 247 (Cent.) The formation of a *dust-whirl as it suddenly bursts upon you in the open street. |
| 1923 E. Sitwell Bucolic Comedies 48 And in the street *dust-white and lean, Two black apes bear her palanquin. 1938 W. de la Mare Memory 16 Dust-white hedge. |
| a 1852 Mayhew London Labour (1861) II. 216/1 The *dust-yards must not be confounded with the ‘night-yards’. 1854 Dickens Hard T. ii. ix. 232 Her father was usually sifting and sifting at his parliamentary cinder-heap in London..and was still hard at it in the national dustyard. 1904 Daily Chron. 27 Sept. 8/2 In a few odd corners of London there still exist dustyards in which the refuse of the great city is sifted and sorted. |
e. Special combs.:
dust-ball, a concretion of the dust of corn sometimes formed in the intestine of the horse, and giving rise to disease;
dust-bowl orig. U.S., a region subject to drought where, as a result of the loss or absence of plant cover, the wind has eroded the soil and made the land unproductive; hence, any region that is arid or unproductive; also
attrib.;
dust-brush, a brush for removing dust from furniture, etc.;
dust-cap, a cap (
cap n.1 12) to protect something from dust;
dust-chamber (in an ore-roasting furnace), a closed chamber in which the heavier products of combustion are collected;
dust-cloak, a cloak worn to keep off the dust (so
dust-coat,
dust-gown,
dust-wrap);
dust-cloth, (
a) a cloth for wiping off dust (
= duster 1); (
b) a cloth placed over something to keep off dust;
dust-coat: see
dust-cloak above;
dust-colour, the colour of the ordinary dust of the ground, a dull light brown; hence
dust-coloured adj.;
dust-core Electr., a core of magnetic powder in which the insulating properties of the binding agent result in reduced core losses;
dust-counter, an instrument for counting the dust particles in a known volume of air;
dust-cover,
dust cover, a cover to protect something from dust;
spec. a detachable paper cover or jacket in which a new book is normally issued and which often contains information about the book or its author; also
fig.;
dust-cup (see
quot.);
dust-destructor: see
destructor 2;
dust-devil: see
devil 11;
dust-flow, a stream or landslide of volcanic ashes saturated with water;
† dust-gold, gold dust;
dust-gown: see
dust-cloak above;
dust-guard, a contrivance to keep off dust from the axle and bearings of a wheel, or on a bicycle from the dress of the rider;
dust-hole, a hole or receptacle in which dust and refuse are collected, a dust-bin;
dust-jacket,
dust jacket = jacket n. 2 b (
cf. dust-cover);
dust-louse, an insect of the genus
Psocus;
dust-pan,
dustpan, a utensil for catching dust as it is swept from a floor, etc.; hence
dustpanful, as much as a dust-pan will hold;
dust-plate (see
quot.);
dust-sheet, a sheet for covering furniture or the like to keep off dust (
cf. quot. 1888
s.v. sheet n.1 1 a); hence
dust-sheeted a., covered or provided with a dust-sheet;
dust-shoot, a place where dust and refuse are shot or deposited;
dust-shot, the smallest size of shot;
† dust-spawn, offspring or progeny of the dust;
dust-storm, a tempest in which large clouds of dust are raised and carried along;
† dust-tempered a., mingled or composed of dust;
dust-thread,
dust-way (
nonce-wds.), applied to the stamens and pistils of flowers, as respectively producing and conveying the pollen (see 1 c);
dust-trap, something in or on which dust collects; also
attrib.;
dust-wind, a wind bringing dust-storms;
dust-woman, a woman employed in sifting dust and refuse;
† dust-worm, a ‘worm of the dust’, a mean or grovelling person;
dust-wrap: see
dust-cloak above;
dust-wrapper = wrapper n. 1 b (
cf. dust-cover). See also
dust-bin, etc.
| 1936 Durant (Okla.) Daily Democrat 26 Mar. 1/7 The panhandle ‘*dustbowl’ was outside the path of the wind. 1936 Dallas Morning News 26 Dec., They say he nearly defeated himself by urging Landon's election among the dust bowl farmers. 1937 Ann. Reg. 1936 288 Some pastoral areas where over-feeding of live-stock had completely killed the pasturage were called ‘dust-bowls’. 1951 B. Russell New Hopes for Changing World 33 Will all the arable land be turned into dust-bowls as it has been in large parts of the United States? 1959 Listener 20 Aug. 276/1 A more depressing picture, widely supported at the present time, is that Venus is an arid dust-bowl. |
| 1828 Webster, *Dust-brush. |
| 1898 Springtime Apr. 103/1 There are..five separate pieces in the *dust-cap alone. 1930 Engineering 16 May 647/1 After screwing down the needle valve, disconnecting the pump and screwing on the dust cap, the strut is ready for use. |
| 1883 Truth 31 May 768/1 With our *dust-cloaks and some yards each of brown gauze, we defied the great Dust Demon. |
| 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Draught horse, They must with a *Dust-cloth wipe off all the Dust that lies on the Horse. 1884 Tennyson Becket v. ii, A slut whose fairest linen seems Foul as her dust-cloth, if she used it. |
| 1702 C. Fiennes Journeys (1947) 261 The wind soone dry'd my *dust coate. 1872 Punch 6 July 7/1 He arrives in a white dustcoat. 1916 H. G. Wells Mr. Britling i. iii. 80 A lady in a motoring dust coat. Ibid. 86 The dust-coat lady. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 39 Dust-coat, any lightweight coat worn mainly to protect the clothes and not necessarily for warmth. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 3, Apes..both red, black, green, *dust-colour, and white ones. |
| 1798 Bloomfield Farmer's Boy (1837) 14 The small *dust-coloured beetle. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xliii, A man in a dust-coloured dress. |
| [1920 U.S. Pat. 1,523,109 Telephone loading coil cores of the so-called ‘dust’ type.] 1924 S. R. Roget Dict. Electr. Terms 70/1 *Dust core, an iron core for induction in telephone lines in which eddy current and hysteresis losses are negligible. 1928 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engin. XLVII. 436/2 The commercial use of permalloy-dust-core loading coils..has brought about a number of very important improvements. 1954 E. Molloy Radio & Telev. Engin. Ref. Bk. xxx. 11 Cores made of ferrites..are commercially available now, and but for their high cost would have replaced the dust core over the frequency range in which they are advantageous. 1970 D. F. Shaw Introd. Electronics (ed. 2) v. 87 These materials [sc. ferrites] have many advantages over the earlier ‘dust-core’ materials. |
| 1892 J. Aitken in Proc. R. Soc. Edinb. XVIII. 39 A simple pocket *dust-counter. 1936 Discovery Nov. 348/1 The Aitken dust-counter has been considered by some to give counts too high for the actual dust particles. |
| 1902 D. Salomons in A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors vi. 95 Every car should have mackintosh raincovers..; also *dust-covers, which are useful on many occasions. 1921 Sat. Westm. Gaz. 17 Sept. 14/1 The dust-cover..suggests that the book will be of service not only in schools but also as ‘an entertainment for home-reading’. 1923 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Feb. 126/1 The lurid dust cover. 1942 ‘N. Shute’ Pied Piper 49 Dozing uneasily in the chair, half-covered by the dust-cover from the bed. 1962 Which? (Car Suppl.) Oct. 138/2 Rubber dust covers on front brake cylinders disintegrated. 1968 Listener 1 Aug. 144/2 Soon after you came back from your recent honeymoon, your wife was quoted in one newspaper as saying that she must help you to take the dust covers off certain areas of your personality. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 99 [The] *Dust Cup..a guard fitted round the fusee arbors of watches and chronometers to exclude dirt. |
| 1888 Kipling Plain Tales from Hills 43 The wheeling choking ‘*dust-devils’ in the skirts of the flying storm. 1892 R. Kipling East & West 31 in Barrack-room Ballads 77 It's up and over the Tongue of Jagai, as blown dust-devils go. 1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) iii. xxxv. 205 At last I saw that part of the yellow cloud off Serd was coming slowly against the wind in our direction, raising scores of dust devils before its feet. 1955 H. Klein Winged Courier vii. 46 The airmen experienced a new African flying hazard in the form of dust devils, some of which rose as high as 8,000 ft. |
| 1904 Science 1 July 24/2 Clouds of steam rising from the crater, accompanied from time to time by *dust-flows. |
| 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 117 A..way of washing out very small *Dust-gold. |
| 1802 Mrs. J. West Infidel Father I. 23 Her homespun *dust-gown. |
| 1888 Engineer LXV. 297 The *dust-guard is made of sycamore wood, and is either in one or two parts. |
| 1811 L. M. Hawkins C'tess & Gertr., *Dust hole. 1836–9 Dickens Sk. Boz, Streets i. A rakish-looking cat..bounding first on the water-butt, then on the dusthole. |
| 1928 S. J. Looker's Booklover's Catal. Jan. 5 The Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson..in *dust jacket. 1928 Observer 24 June 8 The book is sent out by Constable's in a particularly attractive dust-jacket. 1957 Times 25 Nov. 11/3 Henry Fielding's Tom Jones in a practical transparent dust jacket at 12s. 6d. |
| 1785 F. Hopkinson Misc. Essays (1792) II. 158 It was soon after swept out with the common dirt of the room, and carried in a *dust pan to the yard. 1857 Dickens Dorrit xxv. 125 Ladies would fly out at their doors crying, ‘Mr. Baptist—tea-pot!’ ‘Mr. Baptist—dust-pan!’ 1861 ― Gt. Expect. xii, She..got out the dustpan..and began cleaning up to a terrible extent. 1966 J. Betjeman High & Low 17 Brooms and plastic dustpans hang from the ceiling. |
| 1882 F. A. Kemble Rec. Later Life I. 60 Three and four *dustpanfuls a day would be swept away. 1965 M. Echard I met Murder (1967) xvii. 137 The maid told me she swept up dead roaches by the dustpanful. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Dust-plate, a vertical iron plate, supporting the slag-runner of an iron blast furnace. |
| 1854 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 17 May (1966) 290 Not even a book to beguile the time—five fathoms deep they lie beneath *dust-sheets. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 17 Aug. 4/3 The big town-house was depressing in its shroud of dust-sheets. 1928 Daily Mail 25 July 4/2 Hundreds of dust sheets, 2 yards wide by 23/4 yards long, for covering furniture, are being sold by a West End firm. 1936 W. de la mare Wind blows Over 159 Having muffled the furniture with their sepulchral dust-sheets. |
| 1917 C. S. Lewis Let. 18 July (1966) 38 Some of the rooms were all *dust-sheeted. |
| 1883 Pall Mall G. 27 Dec. 12/1 Each tenement has a separate..coal-place, copper and *dust-shoot. |
| 1800 Sporting Mag. XVI. 273 Used to kill small birds for their plumage, with *dust shot. 1863 Bates Nat. Amazon xi. (1864) 352 Mine was a double-barrel, with one charge of BB, and one of dust-shot. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 178 See..these *dust-spawn, feeble dwarfs. |
| 1879 Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. xii. 82 *Dust-storms come on often very quickly. 1936 ‘F. Gerald’ Millionaire in Memories ii. 42 At Port Pirie a dust-storm swept down upon us. |
| 1627–47 Feltham Resolves i. xi. 30 Poore *dust-tempered man. |
| 1879 J. Grant in Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 95/1 He showed that the stamina, or *dust-threads, were the male, and the pistilla, or *dust-ways, the female parts of the plants. |
| 1905 Daily Chron. 17 Apr. 8/2 Fussy, *dust-trap trimming near the hem. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 15 Jan. 2/1 Hailstones, the slowly falling flakes of snow, drops of rain, are literally dust-traps. 1967 R. Rendell New Lease of Death i. 8 The primrose venetian blinds..were dust-traps. |
| 1901 Geogr. Jrnl. XVIII. 91 Observations, outline and relief of the region,..temperature in the interior, *dust-winds, temperatures of wells and springs [etc.]. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) II. 162 The calling of the dustman and *dustwoman is not so much as noticed in the population returns. |
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. xii. (1651) 116 Never satisfied, a slave, a *dust-worme. |
| 1932 Book-Collector's Q. Apr.–June 10 The somewhat more humble ‘*dust-wrapper’ is to be found in the catalogues of the greater and more conscious booksellers. 1934 Punch 24 Oct. 476/2 The love-interest which I guessed (from the dust-wrapper) must be contained somewhere. |
Add:
[1.] d. An act of dusting or of cleaning by wiping away the dust.
colloq.| 1972 F. Warner Maquettes 16 Could do with a dust, this place. 1980 P. Lively in P. Woodford You can't keep out Darkness 158 It's as much as I can manage to have a dust of the ornaments just now. |
▸
dust bunny n. colloq. (chiefly
N. Amer.) a ball of dust and fluff, of a type often found behind or beneath furniture.
| 1952 Newark (Ohio) Advocate & Amer. Tribune 25 June 4/4 He [sc. a child] can be happy enough if there are occasional *dust bunnies under the bed, but he will be miserable indeed if we neglect to safeguard his place in a free society. 2001 H. Holmes Secret Life of Dust i. 12 The dust bunnies that skulk beneath the couch and behind the refrigerator contain everything from space diamonds to Saharan dust to the bones of dinosaurs. |
▸
dust mite n. = house-dust mite n. at
house n.1 Additions.
| 1973 Practitioner May 664 (title) *Dust-mite urticaria. 1996 S. Lavery et al. Hamlyn Encycl. Complementary Health 7 One theory is that childhood asthma is on the increase because of increased traffic fumes, and also dust mites that are present in everybody's homes. |
▪ II. † dust, n.2 Obs. rare.
[cf. dust v.2: also doust.] A stroke, blow.
| 1611 Cotgr., Excez de main non garnie..a cuffe, or dust with the fist. |
▪ III. dust, v.1 [f. dust n.1: cf. ON. dusta to dust. The connexion of senses 7 and 11 is obscure, and it is not certain that they belong here.
Cf. dust v.
2]
† 1. intr. To be dusty; to rise as dust.
Obs.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 314 Ȝif hit dusteð swuðe, heo vlaskeð water þeron, & swopeð hit ut awei. |
† 2. a. trans. To reduce to dust, or to small particles like dust.
b. intr. To crumble to dust.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 135/2 Dustyn, pulverizo. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Pouldrer, to dust. 1636 W. Denny in Ann. Dubrensia (1877) 16 When thy name fades; Marble pillars shall Dust into nothing. 1686 Goad Celest. Bodies iii. ii. 417 He can crumble a Showr into a Drisle, or Dust it into a Fog. |
3. a. trans. To sprinkle with dust or powder.
| 1592 Greene Art Conny Catch. ii. 19 He being thus dusted with meale. 1764 Harmer Observ. xxix. vi. 288 Shimei's behaviour..who..threw stones, and dusted him with dust. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 33 Dust them with flour. 1859 Tennent Ceylon II. viii. v. 367 Dusting themselves with sand. |
b. refl. Of birds; also
intr. for refl.| 1789 G. White Selborne ii. ix. (1853) 185 Let me hear..whether skylarks do not dust. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton x. 144 The partridges that were dusting themselves in the road. 1884 T. Speedy Sport xv. 267 [Partridges] prefer, as a rule, places where they can ‘dust’ and bask in the sun. |
c. to dust the eyes of (
fig.: see
dust n.1 4); also (slang or
colloq.)
to dust, in same sense.
| 1814 Stock Exchange Law Open 11 This is termed ‘Dusting the public’. 1867 Froude Ess. 401 Instead of dusting our eyes with sophistry. |
4. a. To soil with dust; to make dusty.
| 1530 Palsgr. 530/2 You have dusted your cappe, let one go brusshe it. 1624 R. Skynner in Ussher's Lett. (1686), Dust thy self in the dust of their Feet. 1848 Froude Nemesis of Faith (1849) 154 We go out..and dust our feet along its thoroughfares. 1886 A. Lang Lett. Dead Authors 194 Dusting your ruffles among the old volumes on the sunny stalls. |
† b. intr. To become dusty.
Obs.| 1625 J. Phillips Way to Heaven 52 The Booke..lay dusting and out of vse. |
5. To strew or sprinkle as dust.
| 1790 Wedgwood in Phil. Trans. LXXX. 314 note, A little of it is applied, or even dusted only, on the bottom of a small cup made of clay. 1806 Culina 74 Dust in a little flour. 1884 G. H. Boughton in Harper's Mag. Sept. 528/1 We never dusted on enough [pepper] to please him. |
6. a. To free from dust; to wipe or brush off the dust from.
| 1568 North Gueuara's Diall Pr. (1619) 708/2 The French riddles (with which they dust their corne). a 1577 Gascoigne Flowers, etc. Wks. (1587) 180 Yea when he curried was and dusted slike and trimme. 1713 Steele Guardian No. 60 ¶2 It became my province once a week to dust them [books]. 1843 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 267 I went about sweeping and dusting. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman 52 [She] was..dusting the big shells on the mantelpiece. |
b. to dust a person's coat,
jacket, etc.: to beat him soundly.
colloq. (
Cf. sense 7.)
| 1690 W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 154 I'll dust your coat for you. 1698 Farquhar Love & a Bottle v. ii, Tell me presently..sirrah, or I'll dust the secret out of your jacket. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. I. 3 June, With a good oak sapling he dusted his doublet. 1807 Eagle (Staunton, Va.) 28 Aug. 4/2 Go in peace, or I will dust thy jacket with this horse-whip. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg. 2nd Ser. 52 Old Shylock was making a racket, And threatening how well he'd dust every man's jacket. 1884 L. J. Jennings in Croker Papers II. xiv. 49 The threat to dust the author's jacket, for the gratification of private malice. 1895 ‘Rosemary’ Under Chilterns i. 31 Master told me as 'ow 'ee'd dusted 'is jacket for 'im. |
7. a. trans. To beat, thrash. Now
colloq. or
dial. b. intr. To strike, hit.
[But the place of these is doubtful:
cf. dust v.
2]
| 1612 tr. Benvenuto's Passenger (Farmer) If..she be good, to dust her often hath in it a singular..vertue to make her much better. c 1612 Chapman Iliad xvi. 544 Another stony dart As good as Hector's he let fly, that dusted in the neck Of Sthenelaus. 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xxxix. 395 So she took and dusted us both with the hickry [sic]. 1950 Time 30 Jan. 14/2 [Miners] dusted one of [the district leader's] lieutenants with an old shoe for trying to talk them back to work. 1970 H. E. Roberts Third Ear 6/2 Dust v., beat up. |
8. trans. To brush, shake, or rub off as dust.
| 1775 S. J. Pratt Lib. Opinions (1783) IV. 63 Boy, dust away the crumbs with your hat. 1887 Stevenson Underwoods i. xxxviii, A strenuous family dusted from its hands The sand of granite. |
9. To pass (any one) on the road, so as to expose him to the dust of one's horse or wheels; to make one ‘take the dust’; to outride.
U.S. and
Colonial.
| 1890 Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 419 I could have dusted any of 'em with Ben. |
10. intr. To ride or go quickly, hasten, hurry, make
off; also,
to dust it. ( Chiefly
U.S. slang or
colloq.)
| 1655 H. Vaughan Silex Scint. i. Rules & Lessons (1858) 75 Stick thou To thy sure trot..Let folly dust it on, or lag behind. 1860 Mesilla (Ariz.) Times 18 Oct. 1/2 The ‘gold seekers’ thought prudence the better part of valor and ‘got up and dusted’. 1884 A. A. Putnam 10 Years Police Judge xvii. 166 He's throwing dust, but he dusted off with the horse all the same. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms II. xi. 190 And you're a going to dust out right away, you say? 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 120/2, I quickly got inside, locked the door, and dusted out the back way. |
† 11. trans. To drink quickly, ‘toss off’ (liquor).
| 1673 Shadwell Epsom Wells iii. Wks. 1720 II. 241 Clod⁓pate is to dust his stand of ale, and he must be bubbled. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 447 A Prodigal..dusts his Estate, as they do a Stand of Ale in the North. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Dust it away, drink quick about. |
12. to dust off.
a. intr. (See sense 10)
b. trans. = sense 6 a (
orig. U.S.).
| 1948 A. Huxley Ape & Essence (1949) 127 The charvessels can dust off the tables and wash the floors. 1959 Economist 18 Apr. 218/1 The clerics are..dusting off their copies of Fox's Book of Martyrs. |
c. To bring to ruin, defeat, kill; to discard, get rid of.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1938 H. Asbury Sucker's Progress xii. 385 He had been dusted off by Vanderbilt. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §27/5 Eliminate; discard; get rid of,..dust off. Ibid. §118/3 Kill; murder,..dust off. 1960 Times 13 Dec. 4/1 They have always been dusted off in the inter⁓zone matches. |
▪ IV. † dust, v.2 Obs. Pa. tense 3–4
duste,
deste.
[A ME. word, of which the earlier history does not appear. The
pa. tense
deste beside
duste, and the rime in Ferumbras, show that the
u was
ü, pointing to an
OE. *dystan (:—
*dustjan), of which, however, no examples have been found. The Norse words cited by Mätzner,
Icel. dust a ‘tilt’,
Sw. dust a ‘brush’ with any one,
Da. dyst ‘tilting, fighting, shock’, appear to be later words, and are
app. not related. Of an
OE. dystan, early
ME. düsten, the normal
mod. Eng. repr. would be
dist; but
dust (
cf. blush) would also be possible; in which case senses 7 and 11, under
dust v.
1, may possibly belong here, though the wide chronological gap is against this.]
1. trans. To cast forcibly or violently, fling, dash.
| a 1225 St. Marher. 12 Ant duste him adunriht to þere eorðe. Ibid. 18 Þa warð þe reue wod, ant bed..dusten hire into þe grunde. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 984 Þu underfes þet an half, and dustes adun þet oðer. Ibid. 1094 He is godd seolf, þe duste deað under him. a 1225 Juliana 38 Ant te þreo children..beon idust in þe fur of þe ofne. c 1315 Shoreham 52 Thet..non harm hyne don deste, In mode. |
b. intr. To dash, throw oneself violently.
| c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2393 Vrgan lepe vnfain, Ouer þe bregge he deste. |
2. To strike or hit with violence. See also
dust v.
1 7.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2025 Þis wes uneaðe iseid, þat an engel ne com..And duste hit [the wheel] a swuch dunt þat hit bigon to claterin. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2855 [He] heuid vp ys honde, & þar-wiþ an þe heued him duste [rime vuste ‘fist’]. |