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dustheap

dustheap

4.5
A pile of dust and old rubbish thrown away
  • noun
  • /ˈdʌstˌhip/
translation icon : montón de basura
  • After cleaning the attic, we found a large dustheap of forgotten toys and old clothes.

Examples

  • Marx predicted that workers would heave capitalism onto the dustheap of history.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • He got to the apex of the dustheap and remembered an advertising slogan he had seen once for a sleeping nostrum—

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Chucked on the dustheap along with all its inhabitants...

  • It should be pulled down and chucked on the dustheap along with its inhabitants.

  • In an authorizing rhetoric we might call invited excess, such works claim to transmute Dickensian dustheaps of data into the gold of knowledge and form.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Gregor himself, much desiccated and weakened but alive, has been carried out to the dustheap to ponder his metamorphosis.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The construction site was left in disarray, with a dustheap of debris piling up in the corner.

  • He cleared the dustheap of discarded papers from his desk to make space for new projects.

Synonyms

mound
vsdustheap
37 2.1

A small pile of things put on top of each other

is specific to waste and discarded materials rather than any pile
trash heap
vsdustheap
  • US
3 2.4

A pile of garbage and old things people throw away

includes fine powder as part of the discarded material
junk heap
vsdustheap
3 4.2

A messy pile of old broken things people throw away

is more neutral and also covers fine powder as discarded material
junk pile
vsdustheap
2 2.7

A messy heap of old things that people throw away

is neutral and applies equally to small particles and objects
trash pile
vsdustheap
  • US
1 1.3

A heap of thrown away things like paper and bottles

is used for many kinds of discarded matter including fine powder
garbage heap
vsdustheap
  • US
1 2.3

A large pile of things that people have thrown away

is not only large items but may include fine powder among discards
rubbish heap
vsdustheap
  • UK
1 2.7

A pile of waste and old things

includes fine powder among discarded materials
scrapheap
vsdustheap
1 5.4

A pile of old broken metal and other things kept to be thrown away

is a general waste pile not focused on reusable metal
shitheap
vsdustheap
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A very dirty, messy pile of trash and broken things

is neutral and lacks the insult or strong disgust implied here
refuse heap
vsdustheap
4.5

A pile of rubbish left outside in one place

is used for piles that may contain fine powder or debris
ash heap
vsdustheap
4.4

A pile of ashes left after something has been burned

covers many kinds of discarded material beyond burnt remains
muckhill
vsdustheap
9.9

A pile of animal dung and farm waste behind a barn

is not limited to animal waste and includes general discards

How Big

dump
214 1.1
rubbish heap
  • UK
1 2.7
dustheap
4.5

Surface Forms

dustheap singular
dustheaps plural

Morphology

dustheap = dust + heap (transparent) = dust + heap

Meaning is a literal combination of 'dust' + 'heap' referring to a pile of dust or rubbish, which is directly inferable from the components.

Etymology

The word dustheap combines dust and heap. Dust means 'small dry bits' and heap means 'pile', so a dustheap is a pile of dust, rubbish, or old things.