dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2024)

dust v.2

[all reflect an image of the dust raised by one’s speedy movement]

1. (orig. US, also duss, dust along, ...it on, ...off, ...out) to rush off, to leave fast.

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dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (1)H. Vaughan Silex Scintillans I in Rules and Lessons (1858) 75: Seek not the same steps with the crowd; / Stick thou To thy sure trot [...] Let folly dust it on, or lag behind .
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2)J.W. Haley Rebel Yell and The Yankee Hurrah (1985) 118: After dinner we were ordered to ‘dust out of this’ and we moved down the road about four miles.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (3)B.F. Taylor World on Wheels II vii 249: As you dust along the turnpike, you can see [the road].
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (4)C.F. Lummis letter 28 Jan. in Byrkit Letters from the Southwest (1989) 266: He suddenly turned [...] and dusted back to Yucca.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (5)‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (1922) 236: You’re a going to dust out right away, you say?
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (6)Bulletin (Sydney) 14 Apr. 3/2: He slipped the peelers diligent, / He laughed the ‘D’s’ to scorn, / He dusted off the continent / And left the bank to mourn.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (7)C.E. Mulford Bar-20 viii: ‘Guess I’ll make ’em dust along,’ he added, shooting into the spot. A howl went up and two men ran away at top speed.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (8) press cutting in J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 120/2: I quickly got inside, locked the door, and dusted out the back way.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (9)E. Pound letter 1 Dec. in Paige (1971) 67: Well, I must dust out of this. Keep on moving, remember that poetry is more important than verse free or otherwise.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (10)G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 403: Dust out – to flee.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (11)R.E. Howard ‘Texas Fists’ Fight Stories May 🌐 It’s gettin’ about time for us to start dustin’ the trail for the Bueno Oro.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (12)J. Conroy World to Win 27: They dusted out when I was sent up t’ the pen.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (13)A. Hynd We Are the Public Enemies 18: Dillinger, realizing that he was white hot, after only three jobs, dusted to Dayton.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (14)A. Anderson ‘A Sound of Screaming’ in Lover Man 46: He grabbed up the loot and dusted So fast Jesse Owens would be disgusted.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (15)P. Crump Burn, Killer, Burn! 95: ‘I’m going to be dusting,’ I said, getting to my feet.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (16)‘Troy Conway’ Cunning Linguist (1973) 89: ‘Come on now, dust! Just in case the three beards change their plans and come back sooner than you expected them to’.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (17)Eble Campus Sl. Sept. 3: dust – leave abruptly with no explanation.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (18)W. Denton Twists, Slugs and Roscoes 🌐 Why get in a car when you can hop in a boiler? Why tell someone to shut up when you can tell them to close their head? Why threaten to discharge a firearm when you can say, ‘Dust, pal, or I pump lead!’.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (19)E. Weiner Drop Dead, My Lovely (2005) 3: The gals dusted and I took stock.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (20)BBC News ‘Report on Teenage Slang’ 11 Mar. [radio] She was proper vexed and dust out [...] She got really angry and stormed off.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (21)G. Krauze What They Was 4: He’s [...] ready to duss back to the whip.

2. (US) to overtake, to pass on the road.

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dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (22)M.D. Landon Eli Perkins 119: I’ve got a span of fast mares in New York that can ‘dust’ anything you see here.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (23)‘Randy Everhard’ Tattoo of a Naked Lady 97: I poured it on, dusting the pigf*cker. Soon his headlights were only pinpoints in the rearview.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (24)G. Pelecanos Way Home (2009) 21: ‘You dusted ’em’ [...] ‘They don’t live here, man. they don’t know these streets’.

3. (US, also dust off) to get rid of, to jilt.

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dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (25)C. Himes ‘Prison Mass’ in Coll. Stories (1990) 162: When he fell for ‘Chicken’ Gorman [...] he had dusted little Mae like lightning dusting a church steeple.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (26)(con. 1945) G. Forbes Goodbye to Some (1963) 112: About three months ago he got dusted off.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (27)Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 2: dust – get rid of someone.

4. to pursue.

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dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (28)W. Hopson ‘The Ice Man Came’ in Thrilling Detective Winter 🌐 It had been getting monotonous, having the johns dust after us every time we pulled out of a town and there were a couple of busted sardine cans left behind.

In phrases

dust one’s broom (v.) (also dust one’s bed, ... one’s blues)

(US black) to leave.

Show quotations
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (29)Big Joe Williams ‘Providence Help the Poor People’ 🎵 Well, well, may be tomorrow, oh lord, I might dust my bed and go.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (30)Robert Johnson [song title] I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (31)L. Hughes Laughing to Keep from Crying 62: ‘Let’s get on down this road, boy.’ [...] ‘Dust my broom, pal.’.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (32)Elmore James ‘Dust My Blues’ 🎵 I’, gonn a get up in the mornin’ I believe I’ll dust my blues.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (33)Hughes & Bontemps Book of Negro Folklore 483: dust your broom : To go away, to leave town. She dusted her broom on a Greyhound bus.
get up and dust (v.)

(US) to act energetically; to run off quickly.

Show quotations
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (34)Jackson Col.’s Diary (1922) 98: As it had been a long time since our boys had ‘been in town before’ they just made things ‘get up and dust.’ [DARE].
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (35)Farmer Americanisms 219: To get up and dust, To move about quickly. [Ibid.] 265: To git up and dust, i.e., to use the utmost expedition in departing.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (36)H.A. Shands Speech in Mississippi 32: Get up and dust [...] An expression, used mainly by negroes, meaning to leave in a great hurry, to go away swiftly. This expression occurs also in Kentucky and Tennessee.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (37) DN IV 392: Get up and dust... Be energetic... ‘If you get a living here, you have to get up and dust.’.
dust, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2024)
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