dusting

noun

dust·​ing ˈdə-stiŋ 

plural dustings

1

: the act of making something clean by brushing or wiping away dirt and dust from the surface

The furniture needs a good dusting.

2

a

: a small amount of something that falls or is sprinkled over a surface

During summer, the cracked floor looks prehistoric under the desert sun; during winter, it's intermittently covered by sheets of ice and dustings of snow.

—Joseph Stromberg

Add pearl onions, mushrooms, and a dusting of marjoram.

—Hali Ramdene

b

: a faint or slight quality or amount

… sporting a dusting of stubble, DiSpirito runs Union Pacific, a paragon of gilded, inventive Manhattan dining.

—James Poniewozik

Examples of dusting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Plus, the vacuum has a carbon fiber soft dusting brush and a mattress tool for home cleaning. —Cierra Cowan, PC Magazine, 25 Mar. 2026

And a dessert made to look like a frozen lake, with a panna cotta base and layer of frozen water and elderflower, and yogurt powder as a dusting of snow. —Ruth Sherlock, NPR, 22 Mar. 2026

In Georgia, spring also means a dusting of yellow over everyone and everything. —Irene Wright, USA Today, 20 Mar. 2026

Add a chrome dusting over a yellow base for a crisp lemon icing effect, or consider a cat-eye polish to turn your nails into liquid gold. —Grace McCarty, Glamour, 19 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for dusting

• busting
• crusting
• gusting
• lusting
• rusting
• thrusting
• trusting
• adjusting
• disgusting
• distrusting
• encrusting
• entrusting