Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that dusts, especially.
  • noun A cloth or brush used to remove dust.
  • noun A device for sifting or scattering a powdered substance.
  • noun A smock worn to protect one's clothing from dust.
  • noun A woman's loose dress-length housecoat.
  • noun A woman's light, loose, usually three-quarter-length top, often worn over a blouse or as part of a set with pants.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who dusts.
  • noun That which is used in dusting or removing dust, as a piece of cloth or a brush.
  • noun A fine sieve.
  • noun A machine for sifting dry poisons upon plants, to destroy insects.
  • noun A light overcoat or wrap worn to protect the clothing from dust, especially in traveling.
  • noun An apparatus or device, usually employing a current of air, for removing dust or fine particles from any material, such as grain, ore, rags, and the like.
  • noun A light wool or linen blanket, embroidered or plain, used as a cover for the lap, in driving, to protect the clothing from dust.
  • noun A test-well which fails to reach water; a dry hole.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who, or that which, dusts; a utensil that frees from dust.
  • noun (Paper Making) A revolving wire-cloth cylinder which removes the dust from rags, etc.
  • noun (Milling) A blowing machine for separating the flour from the bran.
  • noun A dustcloth or a brush used for removing dust from objects or surfaces.
  • noun U.S., U.S. A long light overgarment
  • noun U.S. a light over-garment, formerly worn when traveling in open vehicles to protect the clothing from dust.
  • noun A light housecoat worn by women.
  • noun A light overcoat worn by women, often having no lining.
  • noun A device for spreading a powder, especially one for spreading insecticide on plants.
  • noun (Baseball) A pitch intentionally thrown by a pitcher directly at or very close to the batter, intended to make the batter stand further away from home plate; also called a dust-back pitch or a dust-back.
  • noun A dust storm.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An object, now especially a cloth, used for dusting surfaces etc.
  • noun Someone who dusts.
  • noun A light, loose-fitting long coat.
  • noun A revolving wire-cloth cylinder which removes the dust from rags, etc.
  • noun milling A blowing-machine for separating the flour from the bran.
  • noun A dry drill hole, one that does not produce oil or gas.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a windstorm that lifts up clouds of dust or sand
  • noun a piece of cloth used for dusting
  • noun a pitch thrown deliberately close to the batter
  • noun a loose coverall (coat or frock) reaching down to the ankles

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

dust +‎ -er

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Examples

  • The duster is next, click on it and the teacher will bend down to pick it up; click on the teacher again and the boy nearest to her will use her as a dart board (ouch!).

    Archive 2008-04-01 2008

  • Getting hit by somebody wearing a knuckle duster is going to hurt at the best of times, so I dread to think what one that packs a 950,000 volt punch will feel like.

    Knuckle Blaster Stun Gun | Impact Lab 2007

  • The average age of the typical crop duster is 60, the number of crop dusters is dwindling, and the profession can be dangerous.

    10 Businesses Set for Extinction in 10 Years | Impact Lab 2007

  • Jumping up, she fetched the carpet sweeper and a duster from the kitchen, and set to work with feverish energy.

    Tradecraft 2005

  • Jumping up, she fetched the carpet sweeper and a duster from the kitchen, and set to work with feverish energy.

    Tradecraft 2005

  • I well remember in my early days we used the feather duster-all that happened was that the movable dust was stirred up, only to settle over a wider area-so the feather duster is no longer used.

    What Shall We Fight it With? 1953

  • She told me to make my bed and gave me what she called a duster for the purpose of cleaning the iron bedstead.

    Prisons and Prisoners: Some Personal Experiences 1914

  • An officer found the man passed out behind the wheel with a can of "duster" - pressurized gas used to blow debris from computer keyboards - in his lap.

    The Shad Plank 2010

  • An officer found the man passed out behind the wheel with a can of "duster" - pressurized gas used to blow debris from computer keyboards - in his lap.

    The Shad Plank 2010

  • At 7 am Desire announced that a well was a 'duster' -- had no oil -- kicking off hundreds of accusatory messages, conspiracy theories and recommendations.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2010

Comments

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  • "Doctor Reefy was a tall man who had worn one suit of clothes for ten years. It was frayed at the sleeves and little holes had appeared at the knees and elbows. In the office he wore also a linen duster with huge pockets into which he continually stuffed scraps of paper."

    - Sherwood Anderson, 'Paper Pills'.

    September 18, 2009