dung

1 of 2

noun

1
: the feces of an animal : manure
2
: something repulsive
dungy adjective

dung

2 of 2

verb

dunged; dunging; dungs

transitive verb

: to fertilize or dress with manure

Examples of dung in a Sentence

Noun researchers tracked the wild gorillas by following the piles of dung
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Indigenous peoples across the Americas valued adobe — a composite of earth, water, and other organic materials like straw or dung — as a preferred construction material for its ability to do the same. Shira Rubin, Washington Post, 24 Aug. 2023 Periodically, Banda opened the door of the jeep to decipher animal prints or dung, furrowing his brow like an archaeologist studying hieroglyphs. Tayari Jones, Travel + Leisure, 26 July 2023 The documentary also captures the band’s homecoming concert at Madison Square Garden later that summer, where Yippie Abbie Hoffman set fire to a pile of horse dung to protest, a scene recreated in the film with a giant turd landing on Bobby Colomby’s drum kit during the show. Roy Trakin, Variety, 31 Mar. 2023 Constant is working at the scale of the Mexican muralists while echoing something of Chris Ofili’s early dazzling dotted paintings with elephant dung attached. Vulture, 7 Mar. 2023 Though the work can be dangerous (face-offs with poachers are rare these days, but not unheard of) the vast majority of the unit’s time is spent observing the creatures, their habitat — and their dung — from afar. Flora Stubbs, Travel + Leisure, 12 Apr. 2023 Ocean energy: waves and currents that produce electricity or heat Bioenergy: uses wood, charcoal, and dung to produce heat, power, and agricultural crops. Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 26 Apr. 2023 And there is probably less pig dung available for dung beetles. Bydennis Normile, science.org, 25 Apr. 2023 Even their droppings were handy — their dung was fuel for burning. Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 18 Oct. 2022
Verb
Hyenas will eat practically anything---from putrid corpses to dung---so donkeys are pretty much a treat. Sarah Zhang, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2012 Moreover, in 2020, communication from the federal government about the pandemic really dung the public wrong. Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 4 July 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dung.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old Norse dyngja manure pile

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of dung was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near dung

Cite this Entry

“Dung.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dung. Accessed 22 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

dung

noun
ˈdəŋ
: waste matter of an animal : manure

More from Merriam-Webster on dung

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