Definitions

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  • noun Plural form of duster.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Modern crop "dusters" deliver only liquids, so the killing power must come from sprayed droplets that by chance remain suspended as an extremely fine mist and are breathed in by those on the ground.

    Crying Wolf: The Terrorist Crop-Duster Dr. Lynn C. Klotz 2010

  • There are sweater sets you can live in, shoes and bags (some day-glo yellow duffle shapes wrapped in nylon "dusters" to stay dry should it rain) and a glass cabinet that holds Isaac's whimsical jewelry.

    Nancy Marks: Get to Know: Isaac Mizrahi Nancy Marks 2010

  • It's probably the closest we can know to the topsoil "dusters" in the US in the 1930s, chronicled in The Worst Hard Time.

    Granular Blitzkrieg 2007

  • In three of these vehicles our party of six began the descent on Tuesday morning, wrapped in linen "dusters" of various shades and shapes, and armed with countless varieties of smoking gear.

    Mr. Isaacs 1881

  • Six or eight men in "dusters," carrying parcels and handbags, projected themselves upon the solitary, rickety carry-all, so that Ransom could read his own fate, while the ruminating conductor of the vehicle, a lean, shambling citizen, with a long neck and a tuft on his chin, guessed that if he wanted to get to the hotel before dusk he would have to strike out.

    The Bostonians, Vol. II (of II) Henry James 1879

  • Over the last four years, "dusters" scanned millions of tracks in the sample looking for these grains.

    Discover Blogs 2010

  • We visited people in their homes and saw appalling conditions—crop dusters flying low and spraying pesticides on fields where migrant workers were picking crops; women giving birth in the fields; children living in homes without plumbing or running water.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • We visited people in their homes and saw appalling conditions—crop dusters flying low and spraying pesticides on fields where migrant workers were picking crops; women giving birth in the fields; children living in homes without plumbing or running water.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • We visited people in their homes and saw appalling conditions—crop dusters flying low and spraying pesticides on fields where migrant workers were picking crops; women giving birth in the fields; children living in homes without plumbing or running water.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • I also go to home purchase Peacock or feather dusters for tying.

    More Cheap Thrills: Walking the Flats in Chucks 2009

Comments

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  • Western horsemen's dusters figured little in Western films until Sergio Leone re-introduced them in his movies The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). The latter played for many months in Paris and was in part credited with a revival of the duster in men's fashions in that city. Similarly, in the film genre of heroic bloodshed, primarily through Chow Yun Fat and John Woo, the hero is often seen wearing a duster. That is also true of the fictional anti-hero Omar Little, who wears dusters both as outerwear and as a silk sleepwear coverup in the HBO series, The Wire.

    Dusters gained renewed popularity in the late 20th century and are now a standard item of Western wear. The Tenth Doctor played by David Tennant wore a cinnamon brown duster coat on Doctor Who. Van Pelt, the main enemy on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle wore a dark brown duster coat. Harry Dresden from Jim Butcher's Dresden Files wears a duster, as well as other cowboy-like attire.

    In modern times, leather dusters are worn by motorcyclists to prevent road rash.

    March 5, 2022