Dust vs Sand - What's the difference?
dust | sand |
(uncountable) Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.
(countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.
* 2010 , Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England (page 150)
(obsolete) A single particle of earth or other material.
* Shakespeare
The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
* Bible, Job vii. 21
The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
* Tennyson
(figurative) Something worthless.
* Shakespeare
(figurative) A low or mean condition.
* Bible, 1 Sam. ii. 8
(slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
(mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.
To remove dust from.
* , chapter=12
, title= To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.
To leave; to rush off.
* 1939 , (Raymond Chandler), (The Big Sleep) , Penguin 2011, p. 75:
To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.
(label) Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see ), forming beaches and deserts and also used in construction.
*
, title= A beach or other expanse of sand.
*{{quote-book, year=1892, author=(James Yoxall)
, chapter=7, title= Personal courage (used before or around 1920s).
* {{quote-book, year=1979, title=Bendigo Shafter, first=Louis, last=L'Amour
, authorlink=Louis L'Amour, isbn=9780553123548, ol=24369989M
, passage=There was youngsters all around him, and he stood there lookin’ at me and never turned a hair. He had sand , that Morrell.}}
A particle from 62.5 microns to 2 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
A light beige colour, like that of typical sand.
A single grain of sand.
(label) A moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life (referring to the sand in an hourglass).
* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
To abrade the surface of (something) with sand or sandpaper in order to smooth or clean it.
To cover with sand.
In uncountable terms the difference between dust and sand
is that dust is fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc while sand is rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in construction.In figurative terms the difference between dust and sand
is that dust is a low or mean condition while sand is a moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life (referring to the sand in an hourglass).In transitive terms the difference between dust and sand
is that dust is to spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid while sand is to cover with sand.As an adjective sand is
of a light beige colour, like that of typical sand.dust
English
Noun
- once they start school, I mean you can do a room out one day, the next day it only needs a dust , doesn't it?
- to touch a dust of England's ground
- I shall sleep in the dust .
- And you may carve a shrine about my dust .
- And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust .
- [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust .
Derived terms
* angel dust * bite the dust * catch dust * dust ball * dustbin, dust bin * dust devil * dustbowl, dust bowl * dust bunny * dust filter * dustman * dust mask * dustpan * duststorm * dust trap * dust-up * dusty * fairy dust * goofer dust * pixie dust * smart dust, smartdust * stardust * turn to dustVerb
(en verb)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.}}
- He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust . I'd like to talk to you a little, soldier.’
- (Sprat)
Derived terms
* dust off * dusterSee also
* vacuum cleanersand
English
(wikipedia sand)Noun
(en-noun)Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand .}}
The Lonely Pyramid, passage=It was the Lost Oasis, the Oasis of the vision in the sand . […] Deep-hidden in the hollow, beneath the cliffs, it lay; and round it the happy verdure spread for many a rood. […] Yes, the quest was ended, the Lost Oasis was the Found!}}
- (Shakespeare)
- The sands are numbered that make up my life.