Dust vs. Sand — What's the Difference?

Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution.

Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size.

Fine, dry particles of matter.

Small loose grains of worn or disintegrated rock.

A cloud of fine, dry particles.

(Geology) A sedimentary material, finer than a granule and coarser than silt, with grains between 0.06 and 2.0 millimeters in diameter.

Particles of matter regarded as the result of disintegration

Often sands A tract of land covered with sand, as a beach or desert.

Earth, especially when regarded as the substance of the grave

The loose, granular, gritty particles in an hourglass.

The surface of the ground.

Sands Moments of allotted time or duration

A debased or despised condition.

(Slang) Courage; stamina; perseverance

Something of no worth.

A light grayish brown to yellowish gray.

Chiefly British Rubbish readied for disposal.

To sprinkle or cover with or as if with sand.

Confusion; agitation; commotion

To polish or scrape with sand or sandpaper.

To remove dust from by wiping, brushing, or beating

To mix with sand.

To sprinkle with a powdery substance

To fill up (a harbor) with sand.

To apply or strew in fine particles

(uncountable) Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in construction.

(Baseball) To deliver a pitch so close to (the batter) as to make the batter back away.

A beach or other expanse of sand.

To clean by removing dust.

Personal courage.

To cover itself with dry soil or other particulate matter. Used of a bird.

A particle from 62.5 microns to 2 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.

Fine particles

A light beige colour, like that of typical sand.

(uncountable) Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.

A single grain of sand.

Submicron particles in outer space, largely silicates and carbon compounds, that contribute greatly to extinction at visible wavelengths.

A moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life (referring to the sand in an hourglass).

(obsolete) A single particle of earth or other material.

(colloquial) A sandpiper.

(countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.

Of a light beige colour, like that of typical sand.

The earth, as the resting place of the dead.

(transitive) To abrade the surface of (something) with sand or sandpaper in order to smooth or clean it.

The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.

(transitive) To cover with sand.

(figurative) Something worthless.

To blot ink using sand.

(figurative) A low or mean condition.

Fine particles of stone, esp. of siliceous stone, but not reduced to dust; comminuted stone in the form of loose grains, which are not coherent when wet.

Cash; money (in reference to gold dust).

A single particle of such stone.

(colloquial) A disturbance or uproar.

The sand in the hourglass; hence, a moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life.

(mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.

Tracts of land consisting of sand, like the deserts of Arabia and Africa; also, extensive tracts of sand exposed by the ebb of the tide.

(transitive) To remove dust from.

Courage; pluck; grit.

(intransitive) To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.

To sprinkle or cover with sand.

(intransitive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.

To drive upon the sand.

(transitive) To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.

To bury (oysters) beneath drifting sand or mud.

To leave; to rush off.

To mix with sand for purposes of fraud; as, to sand sugar.

To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.

A loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral

(slang) To kill.

French writer known for works concerning women's rights and independence (1804-1876)

Fine, dry particles of earth or other matter, so comminuted that they may be raised and wafted by the wind; that which is crumbled to minute portions; fine powder; as, clouds of dust; bone dust.

Fortitude and determination;

A single particle of earth or other matter.

Rub with sandpaper;

The earth, as the resting place of the dead.

The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.

Figuratively, a worthless thing.

Figuratively, a low or mean condition.

Gold dust

To free from dust; to brush, wipe, or sweep away dust from; as, to dust a table or a floor.

To sprinkle with dust.

To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.

Fine powdery material such as dry earth or pollen that can be blown about in the air;

The remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up

Free microscopic particles of solid material;

Remove the dust from;

Rub the dust over a surface so as to blur the outlines of a shape;

Cover with a light dusting of a substance;

Distribute loosely;