dust up

verb

To cover with dust.

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Meanings

verbdust up (third-person singular simple present dusts up, present participle dusting up, simple past and past participle dusted up)

present singular third person dusts up · participle present dusting up · participle past dusted up · past dusted up

  1. transitiveTo cover with dust.
  2. slangtransitiveTo attack (a person) physically; to beat up.

    I promptly put my machine behind him and was about to dust him up a bit when another Fokker came to my help and got in first. He dived on the Caudron, who bolted at once. The Nieuport saw him and came to help his comrade in distress.

    2009, Johannes Werner, Knight of Germany: Oswald Boelcke German Ace, page 194

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
attackbeatcome down on

Translations

German angreifen
  • angreifento attack
Portuguese empoeirar
  • empoeirarto cover with dust
Cite this entry
APA

dust up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dust%20up

MLA

“dust up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dust%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dust up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dust%20up.

Source: dust up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.