dung

1 of 2

noun

1
: the feces of an animal : manure
2
: something repulsive
dungy adjective

dung

2 of 2

verb

dunged; dunging; dungs

transitive verb

: to fertilize or dress with manure

Examples of dung in a Sentence

Noun researchers tracked the wild gorillas by following the piles of dung
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Ancient Egyptians had seen these beetles rolling balls of dung, and connected them to the sacred, dung ball-like orb of the sun itself, as well as concepts of renewal and rebirth. Christie Taylor, Popular Science, 13 Mar. 2024 The ancient Egyptians took the view that the scarab beetle pushing its ball of dung, which it is known to do in the wild, is seen as Ra pushing the sun over the horizon, Dodson says. Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 27 Feb. 2024 Elephant dung gives new meaning to the phrase fiber in the diet. David E. Petzal, Field & Stream, 31 Jan. 2024 His decision to clothe the body in real fabric and use human hair caused an outrage similar to contemporary artist Chris Ofili’s use of elephant dung on a portrait of the Virgin Mary in the 1990s. Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 For every ¼ cup of cornmeal, the FDA allows an average of one or more whole insects, two or more rodent hairs and 50 or more insect fragments, or one or more fragments of rodent dung. Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 29 Jan. 2024 Kimberly questioned why the dung was part of a kitchen ritual, and how the mother cleaned the feces after lighting it on fire. Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 14 Nov. 2023 His modest home in a Norfolk village—a rural hamlet smelling of horse dung and the local gasworks—is gilded, at first, in the seemingly exclusive love of son and mother. Colin Thubron, The New York Review of Books, 19 Jan. 2023 While plants and trees grow in soil, mycelium grows in what’s called substrate (soil can be a substrate, but fungi often grow in a combination of wood, dung, coir or grain). Robert Johnson, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2023
Verb
Hyenas will eat practically anything---from putrid corpses to dung---so donkeys are pretty much a treat. Sarah Zhang, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2012 Moreover, in 2020, communication from the federal government about the pandemic really dung the public wrong. Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 4 July 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dung.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old Norse dyngja manure pile

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of dung was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near dung

Cite this Entry

“Dung.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dung. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

dung

noun
ˈdəŋ
: waste matter of an animal : manure

More from Merriam-Webster on dung

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!