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Gust Beyond Wind
You’re no doubt familiar with the breezy gust meaning “a brief burst of wind.” But about a century and a half before that word first appeared in print in the late 16th century, a different gust blew onto the scene. The windy gust likely comes from a synonymous Old Norse word, gustr, whereas the older gust, which refers to the sensation of taste as well as to a feeling of enthusiastic delight, comes ultimately from gustus, the Latin word for “taste.” English speakers eventually mostly dropped that older gust, replacing it in the early 17th century with a similar gustus word borrowed from Italian: gusto is now the go-to word when you want to refer to enthusiastic and vigorous enjoyment or appreciation. You can use it with gusto.
Examples of gust in a Sentence
Nc Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 29 July 2025
The storms may bring penny-sized hail (0.75 inches) and wind gusts of up to 40 mph.
—Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 29 July 2025
Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 July 2025
Hail and damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph are also threats as the storms move in on Wednesday evening.
—Kenton Gewecke, ABC News, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for gust
Cite this Entry
“Gust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gust. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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