dust
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
duhstIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdʌst
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.
uncountable
Any substance reduced to fine particles; powder.
Free microscopic particles of solid material
“Astronomers say that the empty space between planets actually contains measurable amounts of dust.”
countable
The act of cleaning by dusting.
The earth as the resting place of the dead.
The earthly remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
verb
Rub the dust over a surface so as to blur the outlines of a shape
“The artist dusted the charcoal drawing down to a faint image.”
intransitive or reflexive
Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
transitive
To spray or cover (something) with fine powder or liquid, to sprinkle.
Remove the dust from
intransitive
To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
transitive
To sprinkle (a substance) in the form of dust.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.
Used this way, dust is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Freenoun
“Astronomers say that the empty space between planets actually contains measurable amounts of dust.”
Rubverb
“The artist dusted the charcoal drawing down to a faint image.”
More ways to use dust
- “Astronomers say that the empty space between planets actually contains measurable amounts of dust.”noun
- “The furniture was covered with dust.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A windstorm that lifts up clouds of dust or sand.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A paper jacket for a book.
A miniature whirlwind strong enough to whip dust and leaves and litter into the air.
A paper jacket for a book.
A dry swab for dusting floors.
A large piece of cloth used to cover furniture that is not in use for a long period.
A windstorm that lifts up clouds of dust or sand.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.