source: [だがしかしの枝垂ほたるが砂埃をまわせるGIF画像｜無料GIF画像検索 GIFMAGAZINE 1223540]

1. fine, dry powder consisting of tiny particles of earth or waste matter lying on the ground or on surfaces or carried in the air:

ほこり, ちり; 土［砂］ぼこり

e.g. the car sent up clouds of dust

e.g. they rolled and fought in the dust.

with modifier any material in the form of tiny particles:

粉, 粉末

e.g. coal dust.

in singular a fine powder:

〖a ～〗 (立ちのぼる)土［砂］煙

e.g. he ground it into a fine dust.

in singular a cloud of dust.

literary a dead person's remains:

〖the ～〗 なきがら, 遺骨

e.g. scatter my dust and ashes.

literary the mortal human body:

｟詩/古｠ (ちりに戻るべき)肉体.

e.g. the soul, that dwells within your dust.

2. in singular an act of dusting:

｟英｠ ; 〖a ～〗 ほこりを払う［ふく］こと

e.g. a quick dust, to get rid of the cobwebs.

verb with object

1. remove the dust from the surface of (something) by wiping or brushing it:

〈人が〉〈部屋･家具･服など〉のほこりをとる(off, ｟主に英｠ down)

e.g. I broke the vase I had been dusting

e.g. pick yourself up and dust yourself off

〈人が〉ほこりを拭く.

e.g. no object : she washed and dusted and tidied.

(dust something off) bring something out for use again after a long period of neglect:

〈昔使っていた物〉を再び使い始める; 〈古い考え･方法など〉を使い回す.

e.g. a number of aircraft will be dusted off and returned to flight.

Baseball (dust someone off) deliver a pitch very near a batter so they must fall to the dirt to avoid being hit by it.

2. (usually be dusted) cover lightly with a powdered substance:

e.g. roll out on a surface dusted with flour.

sprinkle (a powdered substance) on to something:

【粉末などを】〈物〉に振りかける «with» ; «…に» 〈粉末など〉を振りかける «on, onto, over»

e.g. orange powder was dusted over the upper body.

3. US informal beat up or kill someone:

e.g. the officers dusted him up a little bit.

used to convey a feeling of great disappointment or disillusion about something:

e.g. the party would be dust and ashes if he couldn't come.

things quiet down:

e.g. she hoped that the dust would settle quickly and the episode be forgotten.

North American informal fall far behind someone in a competitive situation.

remain unused:

e.g. some professors let their computers gather dust.

surpass someone or something easily:

e.g. today's modems leave their predecessors in the dust.

dustless adjective

Old English dūst, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch duist ‘chaff’.