dirty

views updated May 21 2018

dirt·y / ˈdərtē/ • adj. (dirt·i·er, dirt·i·est) covered or marked with an unclean substance: a tray of dirty cups and saucers | her boots were dirty. ∎  causing a person or environment to become unclean: farming is a hard, dirty job. ∎  (of a nuclear weapon) producing considerable radioactive fallout. ∎  (of a color) not bright, clear, or pure: the sea was a waste of dirty gray. ∎  concerned with sex in an unpleasant or obscene way: he told a stream of dirty jokes. ∎  inf. used to emphasize one's disgust for someone or something: you dirty rat! ∎  (of an activity) dishonest; dishonorable: he had a reputation for dirty dealing. ∎  (of weather) rough, stormy, and unpleasant: the yacht was ready for dirty weather. ∎  (of popular music) having a distorted or rasping tone: Nirvana's dirty guitar sound.• v. (dirt·ies, dirt·ied) [tr.] cover or mark with an unclean substance: she didn't like him dirtying her nice clean towels. ∎  cause to feel or appear morally tainted: the criminals have dirtied the city.PHRASES: the dirty end of the stick inf. the difficult or unpleasant part of a task or situation.get one's hands dirty do manual, menial, or other hard work: unlike most chairmen, he gets his hands dirty working alongside the other managers. ∎ inf. become involved in dishonest or dishonorable activity: they can make a lot of money, but fat cats don't get their hands dirty.play dirty inf. act in a dishonest or unfair way.talk dirty inf. speak about sex in a coarse or obscene way.wash one's dirty laundry in public see wash.DERIVATIVES: dirt·i·ly / ˈdərtəlē/ adv.dirt·i·ness n.

Dirty

views updated Jun 11 2018

Dirty ★★ 2005 (R)

Paired on LAPD's anti-gang division with immoral cop Salim Adel (Gooding Jr. in an atypical bad-guy role), former street-thug-turned-good-guy Armando Sancho (Collins Jr.) agonizes over whether to turn Salim over to Internal Affairs for his fatal shooting of an innocent citizen until their commanding officers step in. More than subtle hint of the real-life 1990s Rampart scandal. 97m/C DVD . US Cuba Gooding Jr., Clifton (Gonzalez) Collins Jr., Cole Hauser, Nelust Wyclef Jean, Wood Harris, Robert LaSardo, Lobo Sebastian, Khleo Thomas, Ramirez, Aimee Garcia; D: Chris Fisher; W: Chris Fisher, Gill Reavill, Eric Saks; C: Eliot Rockett, Dani Minnick; M: Peter Lopez.

dirty

views updated May 23 2018

dirty dirty bomb a conventional bomb that contains radioactive material.
dirty old man an older man who is sexually interested in younger women or girls.
dirty water will quench fire a man's lust can be satisfied by any woman, however ugly or immoral; saying recorded from the mid 16th century.
dirty weekend a weekend spent away, especially in secret, with a lover.
dirty work at the crossroads dishonourable, illicit, or underhand behaviour. The term (recorded from the early 20th century) may reflect a view of crossroads as a sinister place, where suicides were traditionally buried.