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
Joseph StrombergAdd pearl onions, mushrooms, and a dusting of marjoram.—Hali Ramdene
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
James PoniewozikExamples of dusting in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The cake is served on its own with just a dusting of powdered sugar.
—Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 June 2025
Twice in the last 100 years, eruptions from Mount Spurr have rained ash down on the city, clogging up roadways, shutting down the local airport (one of the busiest cargo ports in the world), and settling like a fine dusting of gritty, gray, unmelting snow on cars and lawns and leaves of trees.
—Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, 16 May 2025
The two-in-one crevice dusting brush, and the ability to convert from a cordless stick to a handheld adds functionality for other cleaning scenarios.
—Terri Williams, Architectural Digest, 18 Apr. 2025
The pink dusting will differentiate sterilized from non-sterilized mosquitoes when they’re collected as samples.
—Ryanne Mena, Oc Register, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dusting
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Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 June 2025
Twice in the last 100 years, eruptions from Mount Spurr have rained ash down on the city, clogging up roadways, shutting down the local airport (one of the busiest cargo ports in the world), and settling like a fine dusting of gritty, gray, unmelting snow on cars and lawns and leaves of trees.
—Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, 16 May 2025
The two-in-one crevice dusting brush, and the ability to convert from a cordless stick to a handheld adds functionality for other cleaning scenarios.
—Terri Williams, Architectural Digest, 18 Apr. 2025
The pink dusting will differentiate sterilized from non-sterilized mosquitoes when they’re collected as samples.
—Ryanne Mena, Oc Register, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dusting
Cite this Entry
“Dusting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dusting. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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