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as in land
the solid part of our planet's surface as distinguished from the sea and air at the first sound of gunfire we hit the dirt

Synonyms & Similar Words

3
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as in dung
solid matter discharged from an animal's alimentary canal tread carefully, as there's cow dirt all over the pasture

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dirt More than a dozen yellow Caterpillar bulldozers were flattening land and moving dirt to prepare for an additional 3,000 homes. Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Apr. 2025 Mold is visible throughout the house, which is paved with broken floorboards and carpeted areas covered in dirt and trash. Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 1 Apr. 2025 With nobody allowed on the rodeo dirt surrounding the stage, the nearest fans — Crockett’s night drew a crowd of more than 52,000 — are still more than 40 yards from the performance. Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 1 Apr. 2025 Think of these tiny cleansing molecules as little magnets, pulling away dirt, oil, and grime—no harsh scrubbing or rinsing required. Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 1 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for dirt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dirt
Noun
  • Chevron also challenged the costly wetlands restoration project proposed by the parish, which involved removing large amounts of contaminated soil and filling in the swaths fragmented wetlands eroded over the last century.
    Jack Brook, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2025
  • The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is set to kick off its fifth season today, in Rabat, Morocco—a historic moment as the league plays its inaugural games on Moroccan soil.
    Sindiswa Mabunda, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The wild card will be where President Trump and key MAGA influencers land.
    Stef W. Kight, Axios, 10 Apr. 2025
  • Indeed, materials excavated from their land have been used to build Naples’ Piazza del Plebiscito and revive the city’s bustling streets into the industrial boom.
    Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 9 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The war settled into a brutal battle of attrition with limited movement along a frontline stretching for 600 miles through muck of eastern Ukraine.
    Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 11 Mar. 2025
  • The Clippers’ success lately isn’t just stemming from them making games ugly with their defense and slogging through the muck.
    Zach Harper, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Ancient Egyptians saw some scarabs as representations of new life because the insects are known for rolling balls of dung and then laying their eggs in them, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.
    Saleen Martin, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025
  • To anyone sane who respects basic American norms and traditions, these firms are doing their job — and the abuse of executive power to treat them roughly as one might a terrorist organization is to cast the rule of law into a dung heap.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 29 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Developers are planning to break ground later this year on a 237-unit apartment building in Deerfield Beach, bringing activity to a mostly vacant lot whose southern tip is home to a two-story office building on the northwest corner of Federal Highway and Northwest Second Street.
    Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2025
  • Major rallies were held throughout the Bay Area, at Sacramento’s capitol grounds, in Southern California, at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in New York City and Boston and other locations.
    Nhat V. Meyer, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • As Portage residents get accustomed to a big jump in their sewer bills, the City Council is preparing to make sure developers pay more for their impact on the sewage treatment infrastructure.
    Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 2 Apr. 2025
  • The violation says some 50 gallons of raw sewage in total pumped into the water.
    Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 1 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The banal village tunes that Mahler altered into sinister mock vulgarities—did these not recall the raffish klezmer bands, the wandering musicians who played at shtetl weddings?
    David Denby, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2025
  • The real marvel, in this instance, being the avoidance of vulgarity.
    Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • There’s a bedroom on this floor and a small mud room off the main entrance connects to the garage.
    Michael Kaminer, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
  • Peruse hiking apps and blogs for recent reviews from hikers who might mention mud.
    Amelia Arvesen, Outside Online, 29 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dirt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dirt. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.

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