What does "dust" mean?
Dust: Stop! -- for thy tread is on an empire's dust. Byron.
Additional senses
- 2.A single particle of earth or other matter. [R.] "To touch a dust of England's ground." Shak.
- 3.The earth, as the resting place of the dead. For now shall sleep in the dust. Job vii.
- 4.4. The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body. And you may carve a shrine about my dust. Tennyson.
- 5.Figuratively, a worthless thing. And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust. Shak.
- 6.Figuratively, a low or mean condition. [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust. 1 Sam. ii.
- 7.7. Gold dust; hence: (Slang) Coined money; cash. Down with the dust, deposit the cash; pay down the money. [Slang] "My lord, quoth the king, presently deposit your hundred pounds in gold, or else no going hence all the days of your life. . . . The Abbot down with his dust, and glad he escaped so, returned to Reading." Fuller. -- Dust brand (Bot.), a fungous plant (Ustilago Carbo); -- called also smut. -- Gold dust, fine particles of gold, such as are obtained in placer mining; -- often used as money, being transferred by weight. -- In dust and ashes. See under Ashes. -- To bite the dust. See under Bite, v. t. -- To raise, or kick up, dust, to make a commotion. [Colloq.] -- To throw dust in one's eyes, to mislead; to deceive. [Colloq.]
- 8.To free from dust; to brush, wipe, or sweep away dust from; as, to dust a table or a floor.
- 9.To sprinkle with dust.
- 10.To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate. Sprat. To dyst one's jacket, to give one a flogging. [Slang.]
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00