dust

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Fine, dry particles of matter.
• noun A cloud of fine, dry particles.
• noun Particles of matter regarded as the result of disintegration.
• noun Earth, especially when regarded as the substance of the grave.
• noun The surface of the ground.
• noun A debased or despised condition.
• noun Something of no worth.
• noun Chiefly British Rubbish readied for disposal.
• noun Confusion; agitation; commotion.
• intransitive verb To remove dust from by wiping, brushing, or beating.
• intransitive verb To sprinkle with a powdery substance.
• intransitive verb To apply or strew in fine particles.
• intransitive verb Baseball To deliver a pitch so close to (the batter) as to make the batter back away.
• intransitive verb To clean by removing dust.
• intransitive verb To cover itself with dry soil or other particulate matter. Used of a bird.
• idiom (in the dust) Far behind, as in a race or competition.
• idiom (make the dust fly) To go about a task with great energy and speed.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To throw; hurl.
• To strike; beat.
• To run; leave hastily; scuttle; get out: as, to get up and dust; come, dust out of here.
• To free from dust; brush, wipe, or sweep away dust from: as, to dust a table, floor, or room.
• To sprinkle with dust, or with something in the form of dust: as, to dust a cake with fine sugar; to dust a surface with white or yellow.
• noun Earth or other matter in fine dry particles, so attenuated that they can be raised and carried by the wind; finely comminuted or powdered matter: as, clouds of dust obscure the sky.
• noun A collection or cloud of powdered matter in the air; an assemblage or mass of fine particles carried by the wind: as, the trampling of the animals raised a great dust; to take the dust of a carriage going in advance.
• noun Hence Confusion, obscurity, or entanglement of contrary opinions or desires; embroilment; discord: as, to raise a dust about an affront; to kick up a dust. See phrases below.
• noun A small quantity of any powdered substance sprinkled over something: used chiefly in cookery: as, give it a dust of ground spice.
• noun Crude matter regarded as consisting of separate particles; elementary substance.
• noun Hence A dead body, or one of the atoms that compose it; remains.
• noun A low condition, as if prone on the ground.
• noun Rubbish; ashes and other refuse.
• noun Gold-dust; hence, money; cash. See phrases below.
• noun Same as dust-brand.
• noun To make confusion or disturbance; get up a dispute; create discord or angry discussion.
• noun In botany, pollen.
• noun Flour.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun Fine, dry particles of earth or other matter, so comminuted that they may be raised and wafted by the wind; that which is crumbled to minute portions; fine powder
• noun rare A single particle of earth or other matter.
• noun The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
• noun The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
• noun Figuratively, a worthless thing.
• noun Figuratively, a low or mean condition.
• noun Slang, Slang Gold dust.
• noun [Slang] deposit the cash; pay down the money.
• noun (Bot.) a fungous plant (Ustilago Carbo); -- called also smut.
• noun fine particles of gold, such as are obtained in placer mining; -- often used as money, being transferred by weight.
• noun See under Ashes.
• noun See under Bite, v. t.