dirt
/də:t/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- Soil, earth: Loose material consisting of clay, sand, humus, and other particles that forms the upper layer of the earth's surface.
- Any unclean substance, such as mud, dust, or grime: Matter that soils or makes something unclean.
- Gossip, especially of a malicious or scandalous nature: Information about the private lives of others, often intended to damage their reputation.
- Excrement: (Informal, often considered obscene) Waste matter from the bowels.
Adjective:
- (Of a road) Unpaved and often muddy or dusty: Not having a hard, level surface suitable for reliable travel in all weather.
Usage Examples
- Noun (Soil/Earth):
- The children dug in the dirt to find worms.
- We need to buy more dirt for the garden.
- Noun (Unclean Matter):
- Wash that dirt off your hands before dinner.
- There was a layer of dirt on the old window.
- Noun (Gossip):
- The magazine is always digging up dirt on celebrities.
- She loves to hear the latest dirt about her coworkers.
- Noun (Excrement):
- Watch your step, there's dog dirt on the sidewalk.
- Adjective:
- After the rain, the dirt road became impassable.
Advanced Usage
- "to dish the dirt": To gossip or reveal scandalous information.
- The former employee dished the dirt on the company's secrets.
- "to treat someone like dirt": To treat someone with great disrespect.
- He was a terrible boss who treated his staff like dirt.
- "dirt cheap": Extremely inexpensive.
- I bought this old chair dirt cheap at a garage sale.
Variants and Related Words
- Dirty (adj): Covered or marked with dirt; unclean. Also used to mean obscene or unfair.
- His clothes were dirty from working in the garden.
- That was a dirty trick to play.
- Dirtiness (n): The state or quality of being dirty.
Synonyms
- Soil, earth, ground (for the earth/soil meaning).
- Grime, filth, muck (for the unclean matter meaning).
- Gossip, scandal, slander (for the malicious information meaning).
Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)
- Dig up dirt (on someone): To search for and discover damaging information about someone.
- The reporter tried to dig up dirt on the politician.
- Hit the dirt: To drop quickly to the ground, especially to avoid danger.
- When they heard the explosion, everyone hit the dirt.
Related Idioms
- As common as dirt: Very ordinary or low-class.
- He thought her tastes in music were as common as dirt.
- To eat dirt: To be forced to accept a humiliating defeat or insult.
- After his lies were exposed, he had to eat dirt and apologize.
Adjective
- (of roads) not leveled or drained; unsuitable for all year travel
Noun
- disgraceful gossip about the private lives of other people
- obscene terms for feces
- the state of being covered with unclean things
- the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock