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

Beauty-wise, Thompson wore her hair half-up in a high ponytail and a light dusting of shimmery eyeshadow. —Marissa Muller, WWD, 25 Jan. 2025

Crop dusting and utility and pipeline survey operations must be approved on a case-by-case basis. —Doug Gollan, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2025

All of us are just going to see a light dusting if anything. —Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 16 Jan. 2025

Areas along and north of I-70 will likely see a dusting to an inch. —Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 9 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1