dirt
dirt / dərt/ • n. a substance, such as mud or dust, that soils someone or something: his face was covered in dirt. ∎ loose soil or earth; the ground: the soldier sagged to the dirt. ∎ [usu. as adj.] earth used to make a surface for a road, floor, or other area of ground: a dirt road. ∎ short for dirt track. ∎ inf. excrement: a lawn covered in dog dirt. ∎ a state or quality of uncleanliness: Pittsburgh used to be renowned for the sweat and dirt of industry. ∎ inf. gossip, esp. information about someone's activities or private life that could prove damaging if revealed: is there any dirt on Desmond? ∎ obscene or sordid material: we object to the dirt that television projects into homes. ∎ inf. a worthless or contemptible person or thing: she treats him like dirt.PHRASES: do someone dirt inf. harm someone's reputation maliciously.drag the name of someone (or something) through the dirt inf. give someone or something a bad reputation through bad behavior or damaging revelations: he condemned players for dragging the name of football through the dirt.eat dirt inf. suffer insults or humiliation: the film bombed at the box office and the critics made it eat dirt.ORIGIN: Middle English: from Old Norse drit ‘excrement,’ an early sense in English.