- any substance that makes something dirty, for example dust, soil or mud
- His clothes were covered in dirt.
- First remove any grease or dirt from the surface.
- The problem with white is that it soon shows the dirt.
Extra Examples- Clean your face with soap to remove accumulated dirt and oil.
- Dirt had accumulated in the corners of the windows.
- He had streaks of dirt all over his face.
- She rubbed the dirt from her face.
- He swept the dirt out onto the porch.
- I tried to rub off a dirt stain on my sleeve.
- Massage your scalp to loosen any dirt.
- She brushed the loose dirt off her coat.
- Sunlight steamed through the dirt particles in the air.
- The white rug really shows the dirt.
- This material does not attract much dirt.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- excess
- loose
- ingrained
- …
- speck
- streak
- layer
- …
- be covered in
- be covered with
- brush off
- …
- accumulate
- cover
- fleck
- particle
- speck
- …
- (especially North American English) loose earth or soil
- He picked up a handful of dirt and threw it at them.
- Pack the dirt firmly round the plants.
- They lived in a shack with a dirt floor.
- I slammed the shovel into the dirt and started to dig.
Extra Examples- He grew up on a dirt farm in upstate New York.
- I landed hard on the packed dirt.
- He picked himself up off the cold dirt.
- Her fingernails raked the soft dirt beneath her.
- Rose picked the ball up off the infield dirt.
- She filled the hole with loose dirt.
- The blow knocked him against the dirt wall.
- The front lawn has patches of bare dirt.
- The men started to shovel dirt into the open grave.
- They threw dirt into my face.
- They throw sticks and dirt clods up into the air.
- a couple of inches of fill dirt
- a floor of dry dirt
- children playing in the dirt
- the Palermo dirt course
- the dirt yard in front of the barn
- the mounds of fresh dirt over all the graves
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- excess
- loose
- soft
- …
- layer
- be covered in
- be covered with
- dig
- …
- course
- driveway
- lane
- …
- in the dirt
- (informal) unpleasant or harmful information about somebody that could be used to damage their reputation, career, etc.
- Do you have any dirt on the new guy?
Extra Examples- He could dig up so much dirt on her.
- We need to get some dirt on her.
- He'd been trying to dig up some dirt on his political rival.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + dirt- have
- get
- dig
- …
- dirt on
- dish the dirt
- (informal) solid waste matter from the body synonym excrement
- dog dirt
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old Norse drit ‘excrement’, an early sense in English.
Idioms
See dirt in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee dirt in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishdig the dirt | dig up dirt (on somebody)
- to discover and reveal information about somebody that could damage them
- They hired private investigators to dig up dirt on their political opponents.
- She has come to dig the dirt on her old rival.
dish the dirt (on somebody)
- (informal) to tell people unkind or unpleasant things about somebody, especially about their private life
- She loves to dish the dirt on her sisters.
drag somebody through the mud/dirt | drag somebody's name through the mud/dirt
- (informal) to criticize or say bad things about somebody in public, in a way that is unfair
- The paper has dragged his name through the mud.
- They feel their agency has been dragged through the mud by the press.
- Football's good name is being dragged through the dirt.
eat dirt
- (informal) to accept bad treatment and being made to feel small or stupid
- Her mother ate dirt in poorly-paid jobs just so the family could stay in the country.
treat somebody like dirt
- (informal) to treat somebody with no respect at all
- They treat their workers like dirt.
Check pronunciation:
dirt