Did you know?
Gust Beyond Wind
You're no doubt familiar with the simple gust that means "a brief burst of wind." At least a century and a half before that word first appeared in print in the late 16th century, however, a differently derived homograph came on the scene. The windy gust is probably derived from an Old Norse word gustr, whereas our older featured word (which is now considerably rarer than its look-alike) comes to us through Middle English from gustus, the Latin word for "taste." Gustus gave English another word as well. Gusto (which now usually means "zest" but can also mean "an individual or specific taste") comes to us from gustus by way of Italian.
Synonyms
Examples of gust in a Sentence
Martin Weil, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024
Winds will strengthen again Saturday with gusts up to 30 mph, the weather service says.
—Taylor Ward, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
The springtime storms follow a wet Monday when unconfirmed tornadoes, hail, strong gusts and heavy rain battered parts of the South.
—Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 3 Apr. 2024
The southwest wind will be 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.
—Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 3 Apr. 2024
Twenty to 25 mph winds with gusts up to 35 to 45 mph also are expected across Upper Michigan.
—Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 2 Apr. 2024
Expect walnut-sized hail (1.5 inches) and wind gusts of up to 65 mph.
—Star-Telegram Bot, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Apr. 2024
The northern portion of Wisconsin was forecast to receive heavy wind gusts and up to 1.5 inches of rain into Tuesday, as the system that brought the heavy snow transitions into rain, Kallas said.
—David Clarey, Journal Sentinel, 25 Mar. 2024
Residents were killed when struck by trees pushed over by the storm, including a Carmichael man who died at a hospital after a tree was felled by gusts in his backyard and a Fair Oaks woman found dead in her backyard.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 23 Mar. 2024
Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2024
The light west wind will increase to 6 to 11 mph in the morning and could gust as high as 21 mph.
—Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 29 Mar. 2024
Forecasters said there could be a couple of tornadoes, hail the size of quarters and scattered gusts up to 70 mph.
—Omar Rodríguez Ortiz, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024
Winds die off fairly quickly with sunset but continue to gust around 10 mph through the night.
—Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
Winds gust around 25 to 30 mph in the midday and afternoon.
—Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024
On Monday the storm will slow down and strengthen over the Upper Midwest, bringing continuous snow and strong wind gusts to the Dakotas and Minnesota.
—Mirna Alsharif, NBC News, 22 Mar. 2024
The storms expected to move through Indiana and Ohio could bring large hail and wind gusts up to 70 mph in addition to tornados, according to NWS.
—Jake Allen, The Indianapolis Star, 14 Mar. 2024
Temperatures will drop to 17 degrees Friday night and wind gusts up to 22 miles per hour are possible.
—Katie Langford, The Denver Post, 16 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gust.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun (1)
Middle English guste, from Latin gustus; akin to Latin gustare to taste — more at choose
Noun (2)
probably from Old Norse gustr; akin to Old High German gussa flood, and perhaps to Old English gēotan to pour — more at found
Noun (1)
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Noun (2)
1594, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1813, in the meaning defined above
Articles Related to gust
Podcast
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!
Dictionary Entries Near gust
Cite this Entry
“Gust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gust. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
gust
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on gust
Nglish: Translation of gust for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of gust for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about gust
Share