dust

dust¹ W3S3 [dʌst] n [U]

[: Old English;]

1.) dry powder consisting of extremely small bits of dirt that is in buildings on furniture, floors etc if they are not kept clean

▪ All the furniture was covered in dust .

▪ a thick layer of dust

▪ There's not a speck of dust in the kitchen.

gather/collect dust

(=become covered with dust)

▪ Her old trophies were collecting dust on the shelves.

▪ Dust particles floated in the sunlight.

▪ A sudden breeze sent motes of dust (=small bits of dust) dancing in the air.

2.) dry powder consisting of extremely small bits of earth or sand

▪ The wind was blowing dust and leaves up from the ground.

▪ A car sped past in a cloud of dust .

3.) powder consisting of extremely small bits of a particular substance

coal/brick/chalk etc dust

4.) a dust

BrE the act of dusting something

▪ I need to give the sitting room a dust .

5.) let the dust settle/wait for the dust to settle

to allow or wait for a confused situation to become clear

→bite the dust at ↑bite¹ (8), ↑dusty

→leave sb in the dust at ↑leave¹ (15)

→not see sb for dust at ↑see¹ (36)

dust ²

dust² v

1.) [I and T]

to clean the dust from a surface by moving something such as a soft cloth across it

▪ Rachel dusted the books and the bookshelves.

▪ I was dusting in the bedroom when the phone rang.

2.) also dust down

dust off [T]

to remove something such as dust or dirt from your clothes by brushing them with your hands

▪ He got to his feet and dusted his knees.

dust yourself (down/off)

▪ Corbett dusted himself down and walked off.

3.) [T]

to put a fine powder over something

dust sth with sth

▪ Dust the biscuits with icing sugar.

dust off [dust sth<=>off] phr v

1.) to remove something such as dust or dirt from your clothes by brushing them with your hands

▪ They were dusting off leaves and twigs.

dust yourself off

▪ He got to his feet and dusted himself off.

2.) to get something ready in order to use it again, after not using it for a long time

▪ The government is dusting off schemes for supporting creative industries.