dung
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
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excrement, esp of animals; manure
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( as modifier )
dung cart
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something filthy
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have dungedperfect
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has dungedperfect 3rd person singular
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am dungingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been dungingperfect progressive
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has been dungingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is dungingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are dungingprogressive
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dungingparticiple
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dungssingular 3rd person
Past
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had dungedperfect
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had been dungingperfect progressive
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were dungingprogressive plural
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was dungingprogressive singular
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dungedparticiple
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dungedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of dung
before 1000; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Low German, German dung; compare Icelandic dyngja heap, dung, Swedish dynga dung, muck, Old High German tunga manuring
Explanation
Dung means animal droppings or waste. If you work at an elephant sanctuary, you're likely to spend a lot of time shoveling up elephant dung. Dung is a tidy word for an untidy substance — animal poop. When farmers talk about cow dung or chicken dung, they'll probably call it manure instead. Some dung causes problems, like the runoff of pig dung into lakes and rivers, while other dung is used to help fertilize vegetable gardens. Dung is an Old English word, from a Germanic root — in Old High German, a tung was an underground room that was covered with dung for warmth.
Vocabulary lists containing dung
Metaphors from Top AP English Exam Novels
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Home of the Brave
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"Death of a Naturalist" by Seamus Heaney
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Every passing vehicle had to be sprayed with a chemical solution to stop the spread of the virus, which can remain up to six months in cow dung.
From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026
Of particular concern are dung-feeding insects such as flies, dung beetles, and some butterflies.
From Science Daily • Feb. 22, 2026
“Powdered stone worked. So did lizard’s blood and crocodile dung, and pig’s teeth and dolphin’s genitalia and frog’s sperm,” as psychologist Irving Kirsch later explained it.
From Slate • Jan. 30, 2026
My wife, an amateur mycologist, had been invited along with some friends to present their findings on the microscopic fungi that grow on the dung of herbivores like deer and rabbits.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 16, 2025
He says the word gentleman as if it is a pile of sheep dung in the kitchen, and this makes me smile.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
