(dusts, dusting, dusted)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
Dust is very small dry particles of earth or sand.
Tanks raise huge trails of dust when they move...
N-UNCOUNT
2.
Dust is the very small pieces of dirt which you find inside buildings, for example on furniture, floors, or lights.
I could see a thick layer of dust on the stairs...
N-UNCOUNT
3.
Dust is a fine powder which consists of very small particles of a substance such as gold, wood, or coal.
The air is so black with diesel fumes and coal dust, I can barely see.
N-UNCOUNT: oft n N
4.
When you dust something such as furniture, you remove dust from it, usually using a cloth.
I vacuumed and dusted the living room...
She dusted, she cleaned, and she did the washing-up.
VERB: V n, V
• dusting
I'm very fortunate in that I don't have to do the washing-up or the dusting.
N-UNCOUNT
5.
If you dust something with a fine substance such as powder or if you dust a fine substance onto something, you cover it lightly with that substance.
Lightly dust the fish with flour...
Dry your feet well and then dust between the toes with baby powder.
VERB: V n prep/adv, V adv/prep
6.
If you say that something has bitten the dust, you are emphasizing that it no longer exists or that it has failed. (HUMOROUS, INFORMAL)
In the last 30 years many cherished values have bitten the dust...
PHRASE: V inflects [emphasis]
7.
If you say that something will happen when the dust settles, you mean that a situation will be clearer after it has calmed down. If you let the dust settle before doing something, you let a situation calm down before you try to do anything else. (INFORMAL)
Once the dust had settled Beck defended his decision...
PHRASE: V inflects
8.
If you say that something is gathering dust, you mean that it has been left somewhere and nobody is using it or doing anything with it.
Many of the machines are gathering dust in basements...
PHRASE: V inflects