dung
pronunciation
How to pronounce dung in British English:
UK [dʌŋ]
How to pronounce dung in American English:
US [dʌŋ]
-
- Noun:
- fecal matter of animals
-
- Verb:
- fertilize or dress with dung
- defecate; used of animals
Word Origin
- dung
- dung: see dingy
- dung (n.)
- Old English dung "manure, fertilizer," common Germanic (cognates: Old Frisian and Old Saxon dung "manure;" Old High German tunga "manuring," tung "underground room covered with manure;" German Dung; Old Norse dyngja "heap of manure, women's apartment; Swedish dynga "dung, muck;" Danish dynge "heap, mass, pile"), perhaps from a PIE *dhengh- "covering" (cognates: Lithuanian dengti "to cover," Old Irish dingim "I press"). The word recalls the ancient Germanic custom (reported by Tacitus) of covering underground shelters with manure to keep in warmth in winter. The meaning "animal excrement," whether used as fertilizer or not, is from late 13c.The whole body of journeymen tailors is divided into two classes, denominated Flints and Dungs: the former work by the day and receive all equal wages; the latter work generally by the piece [1824]. Dung beetle attested by 1630s. In colloquial American English, tumble-bug. An Old English word for it was tordwifel "turd weevil."
Example
- 1. Dung keeps fires burning ; bones are carved into beads .
- 2. Based on these discourses , I get to know that open hearth made of soil could refine steel . That hearth is similar to soil kitchen stove , installed with a small fan making buzz noises during its flying , which seems to be a brood of dung beetles .
- 3. He marched us off through the rice fields balancing precariously on narrow dikes separating paddies of mud and dung and water right into the farmyards and courtyards of villages apparently untouched by much technical innovation since the water buffalo .
- 4. Old pillows are rich in mite dung and human skin flakes .
- 5. Her head rested on his shoulder , the pleasant smell of her hair conquering the pigeon dung .