crop-dusting

[ krop-duhs-ting ]

noun

1. the spraying of powdered fungicides or insecticides on crops, usually from an airplane.

crop-dusting

noun

1. the spreading of fungicide, etc on crops in the form of dust, often from an aircraft

Example Sentences

AeroDrone, which made crop-dusting drones prior to the war and now supplies Ukraine’s armed forces, makes unmanned aircraft that can carry up to 300 kilograms or fly up to several thousand kilometres in certain configurations.

From Reuters

Well before "Silent Spring" was published, a crop-dusting industry developed on the Great Plains in the years after World War II to apply newly commercialized pesticides.

From Salon

Supporters at a rally last month complained of a crop-dusting drone spraying urine from overhead.

From Reuters

Tucker started a crop-dusting business and began performing in air shows in 1976.

From Washington Post

His father, Joseph Biden Sr., started a crop-dusting business, and after it flopped, cleaned boilers and sold cars.

From Washington Post

About This Word

What else does crop-dusting mean?

In slang, crop-dusting is the act of moving while passing gas, usually silently, thereby “dusting” other people or an area with the gas.

Where does crop-dusting come from?

Yes, the term crop-dusting did originate in agriculture in the 1920s, and it refers to the use of small aircrafts to spray large areas of land with powdered pesticides. The practice has been occasionally banned due to various concerns about public health, the environment, and even terrorism.

The agricultural crop-dusting is featured in an iconic scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 classic film North by Northwest, in which Cary Grant runs from a crop-duster plane sent to kill him.

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The slang term crop-dusting likens the act of dusting crops with pesticides to “spraying” an area with one’s flatulence. The term has been recorded since at least 2000.

The term notably, um, spread to Hollywood in the 2009 romantic-comedy I Love You, Man. During a popular scene in this movie, the movie’s two leads, Peter (Paul Rudd) and Sydney (Jason Segel) observe a man as he surreptitiously crop-dusts a living room at an open house. And during a 2012 appearance on the late-night talk show Conan, comedian Kevin Nealon gave an account of how he notoriously crop-dusted Jack Nicholson.

How is crop-dusting used in real life?

The slang crop-dusting is mostly used for humor—or out of complaint. The verb form is to crop-dust (someone or something). Someone guilty of crop-dusting is a crop-duster.

Should we be afraid of crop dusting during this pandemic too? Coronavirus could be spreading through farts, says Doctor https://t.co/CLOfHsWtBz 🤔#COVID #DidYouKnow

— Becky Bohan Brown (@beckybohanbrown) May 17, 2020

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.