Wiktionary
n. A small atmospheric vortex appearing in clear, dry conditions, made visible by swirling dust picked up from the ground.
WordNet
n. a miniature whirlwind strong enough to whip dust and leaves and litter into the air
Wikipedia
A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively long-lived whirlwind, ranging from small (half a meter wide and a few meters tall) to large (more than 10 meters wide and more than 1000 meters tall). The primary vertical motion is upward. Dust devils are usually harmless, but can on rare occasions grow large enough to pose a threat to both people and property.
They are comparable to tornadoes in that both are a weather phenomenon of a vertically oriented rotating column of wind. Most tornadoes are associated with a larger parent circulation, the mesocyclone on the back of a supercell thunderstorm. Dust devils form as a swirling updraft under sunny conditions during fair weather, rarely coming close to the intensity of a tornado.
Dust Devil is a 1992 horror film written and directed by Richard Stanley.
A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively long-lived whirlwind.
Dust devil may also refer to:
- Dust Devil (film), a 1993 horror film by Richard Stanley
- Dust Devils (game), a 2002 role-playing game set in the American Old West
- Tri-City Dust Devils, an American minor-league baseball team in Pasco, Washington
- Dust Devil, a member of the Blasters in the DC Comics universe
In music:
- "Dust Devil" (song), a 2009 song by Madness
- "Dust Devil", a song by Butthole Surfers from Independent Worm Saloon
- "Dust Devil", a song by School of Seven Bells from Disconnect from Desire
- Dust Devil, Australian musician and composer of the original theme music for the cable television network Adult Swim
- Dustdevils, American noise rock band
"Dust Devil" is a single by the ska/ pop band Madness, released 11 May 2009, precisely one week before their album The Liberty of Norton Folgate.
The B-side, "The Roadette Song" was originally recorded by Ian Dury with his band, Kilburn and the High Roads. The Madness cover version was originally intended to be on their 2005 album The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1.
Usage examples of "dust devil".
Particles of dirt lifted from the gully floor, whirling and spinning, growing from a dust devil to a swirling, cylindrical tornado.
The great room was plunged in shadow and a violet mist began to rise out of the middle of the pentacle, swirling with incredible rapidity like some dust devil of the desert.
Then we'd lose him in the rocks, or where some dust devil had crossed the track and messed it up.
All his eyes could see, all the way home, was Vigor dangling in the grasp of the roots, tumbling through the current like a leaf caught up in a dust devil, with the blood seeping from his mouth to slake the Hatrack's murderous thirst.
All his eyes could see, all the way home, was Vigor dangling in the grasp of the roots, tumbling through the current like a leaf caught up in a dust devil, with the blood seeping from his mouth to slake the Hatrack’.
Far off over the desert a dust devil danced among the Galleta grass and the creosote brush, but I saw no dust of human make.
The Rain and Sun Priests of Xochitl guard the city, he said, and call down the God of the Dust Devil on those who approach without their leave, and thereby destroy them.
Mama's voice broke our silence, and as she spoke a dust devil appeared far in the distance on the unpaved Prince of Peace Citrus Highway, the road our store was on.