dustout

See also: dust-out

English

Alternative forms

• dust-out

Etymology

dust +‎ out

Noun

dustout (countable and uncountable, plural dustouts)

1. A cloud of dust or duststorm that creates conditions of inadequate visibility.
   • 2012, David Fletcher, Ticklers, →ISBN, page 69:

     Hundreds of Kanker's troops would have to be thrown into the job of plugging the holes, a difficult task under ideal conditions, but a pig of a task in a “dustout”.

   • 1986, Labor Arbitration Reports - Volume 85, page 1181:

     He said the dust collecting units were not operating as they should in October 1984 and there were “quite a few" dustouts. These, he claimed, would require one to vacate the basement as soon as possible by walking along the side of the walls in the dark.

2. A prankster who misleads others by giving false or exaggerated information.
   • 2010, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Pashazade: The Arabesk Trilogy, →ISBN:

     This was a sight check, to see if he looked like some dustout or merely sounded like one.

   • 2009, Anthony Trollope, Phineas Finn: The Irish Member, →ISBN:

     "He is the greatest old dustout," said Lord Chiltern, disrespectfully.

3. Fallout; the event of small dust particles falling to the ground in sufficient quantities that they cause a problem.
   • 1960, Journal, American Water Works Association- Volume 52, Issues 1-6, page 90:

     The levels of activity in atmospheric fallout were determined in rain and dustout was collected on vaseline-coated sheets.

   • 1968, Canadian Chemical Processing - Volume 52, page 36:

     Special seals, which fit over the cutter opening when it is out of the flow, prevent dustout and sample contamination.