dust devil

dust dev·il

D d

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [duhst dev-uh l]
- /dʌst ˈdɛv əl/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [duhst dev-uh l]
- /dʌst ˈdɛv əl/

Definitions of dust devil words

noun dust devil a small whirlwind 10–100 feet (3–30 meters) in diameter and from several hundred to 1000 feet (305 meters) high, common in dry regions on hot, calm afternoons and made visible by the dust, debris, and sand it picks up from the ground. 1
noun dust devil small whirlwind 1
noun dust devil a strong miniature whirlwind that whips up dust, litter, leaves, etc into the air 0
noun dust devil a small whirlwind that raises dust in a narrow column 0
noun dust devil A small atmospheric vortex appearing in clear, dry conditions, made visible by swirling dust picked up from the ground. 0

See all 5 definitions of dust devil

Information block about the term

Origin of dust devil

First appearance:

before 1890

One of the 20% newest English words

First recorded in 1890-95

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Dust devil

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Dust devil

dust devil popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 42% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 67% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

dust devil usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for dust devil

noun dust devil

devil — In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the Devil is the most powerful evil spirit.
sandstorm — a windstorm, especially in a desert, that blows along great clouds of sand (distinguished from dust storm).
black blizzard — a dust storm.
duster — a person or thing that removes or applies dust.
harmattan — (on the west coast of Africa) a dry, parching land breeze, charged with dust.

All 10 Synonyms of dust devil