dirt

American  

[durt] / dɜrt /

noun

1. any foul or filthy substance, as mud, grime, dust, or excrement.

2. earth or soil, especially when loose.

3. something or someone vile, mean, or worthless.

   After that last outburst of hers I thought she was dirt.

4. moral filth; vileness; corruption.

5. obscene or lewd language.

   to talk dirt.

6. Informal. gossip, especially of a malicious, lurid, or scandalous nature.

   Tell me all the latest dirt.

   Synonyms:

   scuttlebutt, rumor, slander, scandal

7. private or personal information which if made public would create a scandal or ruin the reputation of a person, company, etc.

8. Mining.

   1. crude, broken ore or waste.

   2. (in placer mining) the material from which gold is separated by washing.

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idioms

1. eat dirt, to accept blame, guilt, criticism, or insults without complaint; humble or abase oneself.

   The prosecutor seemed determined to make the defendant eat dirt.

2. do (someone) dirt. dirty.

dirt British  

/ dɜːt /

noun

1. any unclean substance, such as mud, dust, excrement, etc; filth

2. loose earth; soil

3. 1. packed earth, gravel, cinders, etc, used to make a racetrack

   2. ( as modifier )

      a dirt track

4. mining the gravel or soil from which minerals are extracted

5. a person or thing regarded as worthless

6. obscene or indecent speech or writing

7. slang gossip; scandalous information

8. moral corruption

9. slang to do something vicious to someone

10. informal to spread malicious gossip

11. slang to accept insult without complaining

12. to have no respect or consideration for someone

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dirt More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing dirt

• dig up (dirt)
• dirty
• dish the dirt
• eat crow (dirt)
• hit the deck (dirt)
• pay dirt
• treat like dirt

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Etymology

Origin of dirt

1250–1300; Middle English dirt, drit; cognate with Old Norse drit excrement; compare Old English drītan

Example Sentences

“The parking is dirt cheap and it’s right outside the door,” she says.

From The Wall Street Journal

Nothing but dirt and dry, brown chaparral rolled beneath skis and snowboards dangling from a chairlift at Big Bear Mountain Resort on Friday, as forlorn adventure seekers joked they should rename the place “Big Bare.”

From Los Angeles Times

He grew up a farmer, and when he founded a golf course here 30 years ago, his favorite part was moving dirt around what had once been a peat bog.

From The Wall Street Journal

He shifts effortlessly between bird’s-eye panoramas of battles and empires and close-up historical family dramas or images of himself rumbling along in a truck on dirt roads to visit the sites where things happened.

From The Wall Street Journal

Bar the 90 minutes of resistance England mustered in the morning session, this day went as expected – Australia batting under minimal pressure, grinding England into the dirt.

From BBC

Related Words

• excrement
• ground
• muck
• mud
• soil
• stain