How do you use the word "dust" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "dust": Brush off the dust from your shoes. The desk is covered with dust.

Dust Meaning

/dʌst/

Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounFine particles.

nounFine particles., Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, fiber debris, dead skin cells, etc.

Sentence Examples

Brush off the dust from your shoes.

The desk is covered with dust.

A cloud of dust rose as the truck drove off.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

junk rubble debris

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

A thick layer of ____ covered the old piano keys.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

Brush off the ____ from your shoes.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"There is so much dust released during the process of laying ballast that the trackside operator wears a full face mask with respirator." — 2022 September 7, “East-West track laying heads westwards”, in RAIL, number 965, page 37, photo caption:

"Astronomers have previously considered that dust produced by the star was obscuring it, causing the steep decline in brightness." — 2020 June 29, Paun Rincon, “Betelgeuse: Nearby ‘supernova’ star’s dimming explained”, in BBC News:

"to touch a dust of England’s ground" — 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

"[…]once they start school, I mean you can do a room out one day, the next day it only needs a dust, doesn’t it?" — 2010, Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England, page 150:

"But I should turn mine ears and hear The moanings of the homeless sea, ⁠The sound of streams that swift or slow ⁠Draw down Æonian hills, and sow The dust of continents to be; […]" — 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 54:

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