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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

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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 Mix the medication with an unappealing substance, such as dirt, coffee grounds, or cat litter. Ashley Wong, Health, 19 Sep. 2025 Stewart Friesen has opened up on his hopes for a return to NASCAR after a dirt late model race crash kept him out of the Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs. Lydia Mee, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025 Let those little garden angels add dirt, drop in five or six seeds, water, and place it in a sunny location. Clarence Schmidt, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025 Ralph Lauren puts antique looks on his models, with sweat and dirt ground into their hatbands. Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer, 17 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for dirt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dirt
Noun
  • Regenerative agriculture and bioenergy are at the center of this shift—restoring soils, reducing emissions and creating new value streams for farmers and communities.
    Lucy Hurst, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
  • And these survived only because clay and salt in the surrounding soil protected them from further decay.
    Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Big Think, 17 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • By launch, their costs have pushed prices into no-man's land—too expensive for bargain hunters, not special enough for luxury buyers.
    Erhan Kaya, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
  • The bands partnered with the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon to put on the show, in support of their fight to achieve climate justice and secure immediate recognition and protection for Indigenous lands.
    Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 15 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • McMillan looks like a future star Lost in the muck of the overall offensive performance against the Cardinals was McMillan.
    DIAMOND VENCES, Charlotte Observer, 14 Sep. 2025
  • The study recommends strategic test areas of algicide and treatments to sequester nutrients after large-scale mechanical clearing of the muck.
    Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Brain rot has become unavoidable, its grossness ubiquitous.
    Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • And like the wildebeest, bison dung packs a nutritional punch when deposited across the landscape.
    Madison Dapcevich, Outside, 29 Aug. 2025
  • Decades before Colorado’s best singers, dancers and actors graced the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in downtown Denver, workers pushed brooms across the stage to clean up elephant dung, rodeo sawdust, and blood spatters from boxing matches.
    John Wenzel, Denver Post, 28 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • More than 300 flights were delayed at Denver International Airport on Saturday due to a ground delay caused by thunderstorms in the area.
    Marco Cummings, Denver Post, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Combined, these economic and political pressures created fertile ground for social mobilization.
    Nir Kshetri, The Conversation, 14 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • This includes serving as a sewage station for your body—filtering and detoxing your blood, breaking down old red blood cells and recycling their iron—and a manufacturing plant of sorts—making key proteins and immune system cells, storing vitamins and minerals and processing your nutrients.
    Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • According to authorities, operational disruptions at the wastewater plant generated excessive sewage odors that affected residents.
    Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Scott also wanted that level of vulgarity because the song was inspired by true events.
    Mya Abraham, VIBE.com, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The sour stench of the carcasses was a vulgarity almost too great to bear.
    Nathaniel Rich, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dirt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dirt. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.

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