dust

«dust» in Mova's school dictionary: very tiny bits of dirt, skin, hair and fibres that float… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (dust — uncountable); verb (dust, dusts, dusted, dusting)

meaning for a pupil

1) Dust is very tiny bits of dirt, skin, hair and fibres that float in the air and settle on things. tree →

2) To dust means to wipe dust off furniture with a cloth. tree →

3) To dust also means to sprinkle a fine powder on something, like dusting a cake with sugar. tree →

4) Dust is fine dry soil or powder, like the dust on a dirt road. tree →

5) To raise a dust means to cause a commotion or fuss. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday chores, children help dust shelves; dust can make people sneeze, especially people with allergies or asthma. In science, dust specks float in sunbeams, dust storms happen in deserts, and space dust and the dust on the Moon are studied by astronauts. In stories, a dusty attic hides old secrets. Phrases: dust off, covered in dust, a cloud of dust, bite the dust, gather dust, dustpan, dustbin.

examples

• The shelves were covered in dust. tree →
• Can you dust the bookcase, please? tree →
• Dust makes me sneeze. tree →
• We saw dust floating in the sunbeam. tree →
• The car left a cloud of dust on the dirt road. tree →
• Dust the cake with icing sugar. tree →
• Sweep the dust into the dustpan. tree →
• My old bike sat gathering dust in the shed. tree →
• “There is a dust,” he said. tree →

note

Uncountable: «some dust», «a speck of dust», not «a dust». Adjective: dusty. «Dust» as a verb usually means removing dust, but in cooking it means adding powder. A dustbin (UK) is a rubbish bin; a dustman collects rubbish.

In the corpora

• Dandelion seeds float on tiny parachutes into pavement cracks, where dust and water collect, and a long taproot finds water deep down.
• The nose warms and moistens air, and its hairs and sticky mucus catch dust and germs before they reach the lungs.
• A sneeze is a reflex that blasts air out of the nose and mouth to clear something irritating, like dust or pepper.
• In Looney Tunes the Road Runner zooms off in a cloud of dust, says «meep meep», and Wile E.
• Donkeys love to roll in dust, which scratches itches, cleans the coat and keeps off flies.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «dust» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.