dusting

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

Examples of dusting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But a dusting of snow is forecast for the morning of Christmas Eve, along with freezing rain, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a Winter Weather Advisory for part of Tuesday. —Dan Belson, Baltimore Sun, 23 Dec. 2024

Winter weather advisories have been issued for Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, where a glaze of ice and a dusting of snow is forecast for Tuesday morning. —Max Golembo, ABC News, 23 Dec. 2024

Snowfall totals ranged from a dusting to six inches, with the highest total — 9.4 inches — in Milton, Massachusetts. —Rebecca Cohen, NBC News, 21 Dec. 2024

Snow is not a real threat, though a few flakes late Saturday and a dusting can’t be ruled out for more northern areas near the Kentucky state line, according to the weather service. —Andy Humbles, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1