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RUSTY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: rustier , rustiest
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Of the brown color of rust
Synonyms:
rust; rust-brown; rusty
Classified under:
Similar:
chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)
Derivation:
rust (a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Ancient
Example:
hoary jokes
Synonyms:
hoary; rusty
Classified under:
Similar:
old (of long duration; not new)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Covered with or consisting of rust
Example:
rusty deposits
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
rusted (having accumulated rust)
Derivation:
rust (a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture)
rustiness (the condition of being coated or clogged with rust)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Impaired in skill by neglect
Synonyms:
out of practice; rusty
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unskilled (not having or showing or requiring special skill or proficiency)
Derivation:
rustiness (ineptitude or awkwardness as a consequence of age or lack of practice)
Context examples:
It was rusty and dull, but I turned the grindstone while Louis gave it an edge.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
I found the mess to consist of indifferent potatoes and strange shreds of rusty meat, mixed and cooked together.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
He was dressed in rusty black, with a very broad-brimmed top-hat and a loose white necktie—the whole effect being that of a very rustic parson or of an undertaker’s mute.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Presently he got one to suit; after a little play back and forward the bolt yielded, and, with a rusty clang, shot back.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
I have been telling your daughter how well I have been disposing of my money for myself, because I couldn't trust it to you, as you were growing rusty in business matters.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
From within he produced a crumpled piece of paper, an old-fashioned brass key, a peg of wood with a ball of string attached to it, and three rusty old disks of metal.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
In the stern-sheets I found a rusty ten-gauge shot-gun and a sailor’s sheath-knife broken short across and so rusted as to be almost unrecognizable.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Little had been left besides the framework of the house, but in one corner there was a stone slab laid down by way of hearth and an old rusty iron basket to contain the fire.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
