dusting

1 of 2

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

dusting

2 of 2

present participle of dust entry 2

Examples of dusting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Available both in the restaurant and the cafe at All Mart’s entrance, this icy dessert has a floral cardamom flavor and a slight crunch from its dusting of pistachios. — Anne Ewbank, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2026

Any far-future geologist sifting through sediment cores will detect a thin dusting of radioactive fallout as a precise time stamp of a world forever changed—an inexpungible technofossil boundary signaling humanity’s broader dominance. — Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026

From Hood River, head south toward Mount Hood, which may already have its first dusting of snow. — Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 24 Sep. 2026

The soft, tender cookies are packed with raspberry filling and finished with a generous dusting of powdered sugar. — Kait Hanson, Southern Living, 24 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for dusting

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