1. To remove material; "Dust the shelves and the floor."
2. To lay down material; "The farmer will dust the crops today."

A cloud of fine, dry particles consisting of sand, dirt, etc.: A dust storm, several hundred kilometers in diameter, moved into China from the Gobi Desert.

1. Very small dry particles of a substance; such as, sand, dirt, or coal, either in the form of a deposit or in a cloud: The wind was blowing the various dusts from the deserts to non-desert areas.

A towering cloud of Gobi Desert sand dwarfed the rows of houses as it descended on a small village in central China while the residents hid inside their homes with their windows and doors locked shut as the desert dust swept through the region advancing 70 feet a minute.

2. The small particles of dirt that settle on surfaces in buildings; including, houses, public buildings, industrial areas, etc.: The housekeeper was unable to keep up with the dust that drifted in from the local highway construction.
3. The small particles that something, especially a human body, is thought to be reduced to by decay after death: After cremation, Jennifer's remains were just particles of dust.
4. The earth, particularly that of someone's grave (a literary term): Many authors have referred to the grave or an individual buried in a grave as the dust of the earth.
5. Etymology: form Old English, "dust", from German Dunst, "mist, vapor". The meaning of "that to which living matter decays" was in Old English; hence, figuratively, "mortal life".

1. To make something clear, or cleaner, by brushing or wiping dirt from the surface of something: The cleaning lady dusted the tables, bookshelves, etc. at least once a week.

When Christa comes back from the beach, she always dusts the sand off her legs before she goes into her house.

2. To cover something with a fine powder: The police dusted the table and chairs for fingerprints.

William's mother usually dusts the cake with powdered sugar.

The farmer is dusting his crops with a pesticide.

3. Etymology: from about 1200, "to rise as dust"; later it came to mean both "to sprinkle with dust" and "to rid of dust". The meaning, "to kill" is a U.S. slang term that was first recorded 1938; such as, "he was known to bite the dust as a result of the auto accident".

To die or to stop functioning: Joe's old car finally bit the dust and he had to buy a new vehicle.

The old horse has bitten the dust and will have to be buried in the field.

Very small, airborne ice crystals that reflect sunlight, often creating pillars of light.

A can for trash or for garbage: Patrick and Patricia put their trash in the dust bin after cleaning up before the truck came to pick it up.

A land area that was used for farming but which became a kind of desert because of insufficient rainfall to support agriculture production: Many people in the Midwestern states of the U.S. left the dust bowl and moved west in hopes of improving their way of life.

Fluff or balls of loose particles of dirt; such as, hair or fur which accumulate in spaces that are often awkward to clean: Karen swept the dust bunnies from under the bed and the window ledges.

A British term for garbage or trash truck: "The dust cart was coming to pick up the trash that people had put into their dust bins."

A piece of cloth, plastic, etc., which covers and protects something from getting dirty: The rare painting was draped with a dust cover to protect it from light and dust.

Primarily used in the U.S., a small area of rapidly spinning wind which contains sand or small particles of dirt: Today there was a dust devil filling the air with dust and sand from the desert area.

A paper cover which protects a book and that can be easily removed: The dust jacket of one of the used books was torn; however, the other books had dust jackets that were still in very good condition.

British term for garbageman or trash man: They were waiting for the dust man, or dust men, to pick up the rubbish.

Very small creatures which live in the accumulation of fine particles of dirt, sloughed skin, etc. in a person's house or in public buildings all of which can cause an allergic reaction: The fitness studio has rugs which obviously have dust mites mixed in with all of the dirt that can be seen on the rugs.

A short-handled flat pan that is open on one side and into which soil or other loose powder is swept from the floors, etc. with a small brush: Mildred was using a dust pan to sweep up the dirt from the kitchen floor.

A very strong wind which carries clouds of small particles of dirt across a large area: There was a dust storm blowing into large areas of Southern California from Death Valley which has intensified the bad drought conditions that the state has been recently experiencing.

Small, solid grains of matter, thinly distributed between the stars; sometimes concentrated in nebulae (glowing or dark patches in the sky).