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DIRT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Disgraceful gossip about the private lives of other people
Synonyms:
dirt; malicious gossip; scandal
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("dirt" is a kind of...):
comment; gossip; scuttlebutt (a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The state of being covered with unclean things
Synonyms:
dirt; filth; grease; grime; grunge; soil; stain
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("dirt" is a kind of...):
dirtiness; uncleanness (the state of being unsanitary)
Derivation:
dirty (soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime)
dirty (spreading pollution or contamination; especially radioactive contamination)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock
Synonyms:
dirt; soil
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("dirt" is a kind of...):
earth; ground (the loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dirt"):
wiesenboden (a dark meadow soil rich in organic material; developed through poor drainage in humid grassy or sedge regions)
tundra soil (a black mucky soil with a frozen subsoil that is characteristic of Arctic and subarctic regions)
boulder clay; till (unstratified soil deposited by a glacier; consists of sand and clay and gravel and boulders mixed together)
silt (mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake)
sedimentary clay (clay soil formed by sedimentary deposits)
sand (a loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral)
prairie soil (a type of soil occurring under grasses in temperate climates)
podsol; podsol soil; podsolic soil; podzol; podzol soil (a soil that develops in temperate to cold moist climates under coniferous or heath vegetation; an organic mat over a grey leached layer)
bole (a soft oily clay used as a pigment (especially a reddish brown pigment))
clay; mud (water soaked soil; soft wet earth)
mold; mould (loose soil rich in organic matter)
loess (a fine-grained unstratified accumulation of clay and silt deposited by the wind)
loam (a rich soil consisting of a mixture of sand and clay and decaying organic materials)
laterite (a red soil produced by rock decay; contains insoluble deposits of ferric and aluminum oxides)
Indian red (a red soil containing ferric oxide; often used as a pigment)
indurated clay (hardened clay)
humus (partially decomposed organic matter; the organic component of soil)
gumbo; gumbo soil (any of various fine-grained silty soils that become waxy and very sticky mud when saturated with water)
gilgai soil (soil in the melon holes of Australia)
fuller's earth (an absorbent soil resembling clay; used in fulling (shrinking and thickening) woolen cloth and as an adsorbent)
caliche; hardpan (crust or layer of hard subsoil encrusted with calcium-carbonate occurring in arid or semiarid regions)
desert soil; desertic soil (a type of soil that develops in arid climates)
clunch (hardened clay)
clay (a very fine-grained soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired)
bog soil (poorly drained soils on top of peat and under marsh or swamp vegetation)
alluvial soil (a fine-grained fertile soil deposited by water flowing over flood plains or in river beds)
subsoil; undersoil (the layer of soil between the topsoil and bedrock)
surface soil; topsoil (the layer of soil on the surface)
residual clay; residual soil (the soil that is remaining after the soluble elements have been dissolved)
regosol (a type of soil consisting of unconsolidated material from freshly deposited alluvium or sand)
marl (a loose and crumbling earthy deposit consisting mainly of calcite or dolomite; used as a fertilizer for soils deficient in lime)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Obscene terms for feces
Synonyms:
crap; dirt; poop; shit; shite; turd
Classified under:
Nouns denoting substances
Hypernyms ("dirt" is a kind of...):
BM; dejection; faecal matter; faeces; fecal matter; feces; ordure; stool (solid excretory product evacuated from the bowels)
Domain usage:
dirty word; filth; obscenity; smut; vulgarism (an offensive or indecent word or phrase)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(of roads) not leveled or drained; unsuitable for all year travel
Synonyms:
dirt; ungraded
Classified under:
Similar:
unimproved (not made more desirable or valuable or profitable; especially not made ready for use or marketing)
Context examples:
“How can you be so silly,” cried her mother, “as to think of such a thing, in all this dirt! You will not be fit to be seen when you get there.”
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
As soon as she could pick herself up out of the dirt, she ran off as fast as she could to her master the parson, and said, “Sir, sir, the cow is talking!”
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Oh! That will not signify; I never mind dirt.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Soil is not an inert, dead plot of dirt; it contains many living organisms that enhance the soil’s ability to make nutrients available to plants.
(New Test Can Determine Nitrogen Levels in Soil, U.S. Department of Agriculture)
A device problem that occurred due to factors within the environment e.g. dust, dirt, humidity, temperature.
(Device Environment Problem Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)
A device that experienced problems due to dust or dirt that has adhered to its surfaces.
(Device Dust or Dirt Problem Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)
The action of removing dirt, filth, or unwanted substances from.
(Clean, NCI Thesaurus)
Breathing air, drinking water, eating food, or swallowing or touching dirt that contains lead can cause many health problems.
(Lead Poisoning, Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry)
The Moon is a pretty inhospitable place for humans but now scientists have figured out a way to get the Oxygen out of its dirt.
(Scientists Find Way to Extract Oxygen from Moon Dirt, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
His chance for the Kellynch estate was something, but all the honour of the family he held as cheap as dirt.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
