dirt, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

dirt n.

1. money.

c.1637		R. Brome Damoiselle I i: You spirited men call Money Dirt and Mud.
[1693		Congreve Old Bachelor II i: Money is but dirt, Sir Joseph, mere dirt].
1730		J. Miller Humours of Oxford I i: Hang Fortune, I say – Trash – mere Dirt.
1796		G. Colman Yngr Iron Chest II ii: Take your dirt again, (throws down the money.) Good Captain-Justice! — Stoop for it, — and think How an old Soldier, and a Justice, looks, When he is picking up the bribes he offers, To injure those he should protect.
[1826		Commercial Advertiser (N.Y.) 29 Nov. 2/4: I was informed by a carpenter [...] that (to use his own words) they made money like dirt out of the nine pin alleys].
1901		J. London ‘Local Color’ Complete Short Stories (1993) I 694: I had intended to slip a fiver into his hand, but for all his surprise, he was too quick for me. ‘Aw, keep yer dirt,’ he snarled.
1905		Sun. Times (Perth) 12 Nov. 4/7: I was just within a yard of putting on my bit of ‘dirt’ / When I met the sporting writer, whow as burdened with a ‘Cert’.
1910		Wash. Herald (DC) 11 Sept. 19/3: You-all can win my dist and dirt, but nary one of my dawgs.
1919		Smith’s Wkly (Sydney) 7 June 9/6: Slang of Money [...] It has been called ‘the actual, the blunt, hard, dirt, evil, flimsy, gilt, iron, John. Davis, lurries, moss, oil of angels, pieces, rowdy, spondulicks, tin, wad’ .
1929		M. Prenner ‘Sl. Terms for Money’ in AS IV:5 357: To avoid using the word money, the well-informed user of slang may use cush, darby, dirt, dinero (evidently Spanish).
1934		G. & S. Lorimer Stag Line 145: Plenty of scratch [...] You know, dirt.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 796: dirt – Money.

2. (Aus./N.Z.) a mean action or a malicious remark; thus the individual who delivers it.

1818		Salisbury & Winchester Jrnl 8 June 3: So come on, my boy; I’ll throw slush to the tune of their dirt I’ll be bound.
1850		E.V. Kenealy Goethe: a New Pantomime in Poetical Works 2 (1878) 336: Demirep, Lacedmutton, Gadder; / Do give over flinging dirt.
1865		W. Hilleary diary 5 June A Webfoot Volunteer (1965) 80: Poker playing was all the ‘go’ in camp & almost resulted in a little ‘dirt.’ Two Corp’ls talked very brave.
1885		Western Dly Press 20 Aug. 3/7: When out on the stump I belabour and thump, / And scatter unlimited dirt.
1886		Lantern (N.O.) 22 Sept. 2: But the dirt will come to the surface.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Mar. 13/2: at the squaring-up. / The Detective: ‘Look at the beers I bought yer.’ / The Phizgig: ‘But look at the dirt yer made me swaller!’.
1904		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 16 Mar. 6/5: Walker fought like a little toff, but Davis was ‘dirt’ all the way, and in the fifth [round] he deliberately hit Walker in the crutch.
1910		Bulletin (Sydney) 1 Dec. 18/1: I call it dirt / To go an’ block a man that’s fightin’ well / By crowdin’ in on ’im!
1915		C.J. Dennis ‘The Intro’ in Songs of a Sentimental Bloke 20: Did she turn me down a treat! / The way she tossed ’er ’ead an’ swished her skirt! / Oh, it wus dirt!
1926		K.S. Prichard Working Bullocks 66: By God, he’s [a horse] good! [...] A ball of spirit, but there’s no dirt in him.
1936		D. Stivens Tramp and Other Stories 144: Some of these people have been trying to put the dirt into me!
1949		H. Miller Sexus (1969) 59: She said with a smile that was almost ugly – ‘And now for the dirt!’.
1959		G. Slatter Gun in My Hand 166: Roger Wilkinson’s the cleanest player in the country. He doesn’t put in the dirt.
1973		P. Newton Big Country of South Island 87: Although they [i.e. mules] are renowned for their dirt – it is said they can kick with all four feet – most of the old packies swear by them.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 dirt Definition: the illegal, treacherous or otherwise negative and/or unpleasant things that one does in the course of one’s life Example: Damn nigga...I know you wanna do some gangsta shit with me, but sorry bro, I do my dirt all by my lonely.

3. (UK und.) a coward, a weakling.

1824

letter 28 Dec. in Pierce Egan’s Life in London (10 Apr. 1825) 83/2: [L]ittle Davy, who is no dirt, stood at the bottom of the Jacob (stair-case), with the parlour poker in his hand, in case any one should come to lend us a hand to pay them for their trouble).

4. (orig. US) information, not necessarily, but often, scurrilous; often as what’s the dirt (on)...?

1888		Boston Weekly Globe 29 Feb. n.p.: If the public demand dirt the newspapers will furnish dirt — and don’t you forget it [DA].
1928		M. West Pleasure Man (1997) II ii: I’ll get the dirt from Toto, but what I hear I’ll keep to myself.
1933		Nicholson & Robinson Sailor Beware! I ii: I just wanta read the dirt about Frances Scully.
1949		J.H. Burns Lucifer with a Book 123: Something maternal in her rejoiced [...] as a mother learns some dirt on her son and treasures it in her heart.
1958		R. Chandler Playback 33: They pay the bills, you dig the dirt.
1966		Frank Zappa ‘Trouble Every Day’ 🎵 Until my head begin to hurt / From checkin’ out the way / The newsman say they get the dirt.
1978		F. Norman Dead Butler Caper 2: If I could dig up enough dirt that would stick in court.
1989		T. Blacker Fixx 207: The dirt he’s digging is so important.
1995		D. Lodge Therapy (1996) 71: You don’t get any dirt if you don’t dish some yourself.
2000		M. Amis Experience 338: Get some new dirt on Mandela [...] Because your old dirt is hopeless.
2005		E. Weiner Big Boat to Bye-Bye 185: ‘You glommed Cohen dirt to shake down wifey, that’s your angle’.
2005		L. Redhead Rubdown [ebook] I got such good dirt on Chevelle.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 16: Moir never went to conference but he liked to know the dirt.
2010		Guardian 18 Dec. 38/4: The only dirt I can get on him is that he is a living lie .
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] I didn’t want misty-eyed reminiscences, I wanted dirt.
2012		L. Berney Whiplash River [ebook] ‘[I]f he didn’t get a job with the campaign, he’d take all the dirt he had [...] and dump it in public’.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 14: I dug up that dirt [...] Know your foe.

5. (orig. US) an unpleasant individual.

1883		J. Keane On Blue Water 206: The mate's all right [...] but the second mate's dirt — real dirt — right down to the ground.
1903		Bulletin (Sydney) 3 Dec. 16/2: O’Keefe, who forged whisky in the interests of the black shellers and other Eastern dirt, stood speechless behind the bar when the mugger laid his snout on the counter and breathed at him.
1932		‘R. Scully’ Scarlet Pansy 213: He’s dirt!
1949		R. Service ‘Montreal Maree’ in Songs of a Sun Lover (1955) 73: Serene and still she spoke to Bill like he was so much dirt.
1959		M. Richler Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1964) 95: You think I’m dirt.
1968		J. Hersey Algiers Motel Incident 207: A man throwed a sandwich on the floor [...] and say, ‘Git it, Dirt’.
1972		P. Fordham Inside the Und. 118: Most of them are regarded as useful ‘dirt’.
2002		L. Pizzichini Dead Men’s Wages (2003) 207: A fixer [...] is the man who acts as a go-between for villains and the police. Most of them are regarded as ‘dirt’.

6. (orig. US) gossip, malicious chatter, thus dirt-digger, a gossip columnist.

1920		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 31: Did you hear about the Poodle girl neckth door? More dirt about the neighbors eh?
1936		E. Pound letter 28 Nov. in Paige (1971) 283: Glad to see you doing man’s woik and spillin the dirt on Georges, etc.
1937		Duckett & Staple ‘Double Feature’ in N.Y. Age 17 July 7/2: Robbie King [...] pinch-hits for your regular dirt-digger.
1949		R. Chandler Little Sister 108: I want to peddle a little dirt.
1959		C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 104: ‘Anything for the column?’ [...] ‘Yes, all the dirt. A bit later.’.
1963		J. Rechy City of Night 198: Randy goes around talking all kinds of dirt.
1971		J. Mandelkau Buttons 59: It’s just the papers capitalising on dirt again.
1977		L. Bangs in Psychotic Reactions (1988) 213: A book which dosed us with all the dirt we’d yearned for for so long.
1992		I. Rankin Strip Jack 48: So, Chris [...] what’s the dirt on Gregor Jack?
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 197: Mr. Hoover held dirt. Mr. Hoover leaked dirt. Mr. Hoover caused pain.
2020		(con. 1991-94) W. Boyle City of Margins 105: [S]he wasn’t that kind of person, in everybody’s business, digging up dirt.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 204: Jack jaws on overdrive. He’s every [...] dirt-digger’s dream.

7. (US) a man who seduces and then beats up or otherwise physically harms male homosexuals, either after/during sex, or instead of; a homophobic thug.

1949		‘Swasarnt Nerf’ et al. Gay Girl’s Guide 7: dirt: Properly, a highly specialized, type of criminally psychopathic youth, self-appointed nemesis of any and all homosexuals, usually, not homosexual himself (but this varies greatly since some kind of sexual abnormality or inferiority is almost, always at the root of it), who guilefully leads on a homosexual interested, in him until in a position to do him dirt, rolling and/or beating him up (rarely fatally), alone or with others, before or after being ‘blown’. By extension, anyone following the above line of conduct, also including sailors, strong-armed clip-queens, opportunistic rough and commercial trade, et al. [Ibid.] 36: Dirt [...] has a positive and primary object: to beat up and/or roll queers.
1961		‘Lou Rand’ Gay Detective (2003) 34: They [i.e. servicemen] can be so rough! So much dirt nowadays.
1964		Homosexuality & Citizenship in Florida 14: Such young people as this, known as hustlers, will frequently become ‘fairies,’ intersted only in sex with any man, or ‘dirt,’ willing to be passive in a homosexual act but given to robbing the homosexual of all money and clothing at its conclusion.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 77: hostile heterosexual man whose anti-homosexuality is sometimes violently expressed [...] dirt.

8. (US gay) one who professes homosexuality in order to practise blackmail.

1927		A.J. Rosanoff Manual of Psychiatry (6th edn) II 204: dirt, a pretended homosexual whose motive is blackmail .
1932		V.F. Nelson Prison Days and Nights 104: Soon the word passed among the ‘fags’ of the district that the Green mob was ‘dirt’.
1932		‘R. Scully’ A Scarlet Pansy 199: There was trade everywhere. Of course there was always the usual sprinkling of dirt, but the clever ones, with their sharpened sensibilities, their so-called intuition, were almost mind-readers.
1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 12: dirt (n.): A person (quite often trade) who robs, beats up, blackmails, or harms in any way a homosexual.

9. (US prison) sugar.

1931		G. Milburn ‘Convicts’ Jargon’ in AS VI:6 438: dirt, n. Prison term for sugar.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.

10. in drug uses.

(a) (US drugs, also dirt grass) marijuana, usu. very poor quality.

1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972) 67: dirt grass. Uncultivated low-quality marijuana.
1995		L. Stavsky et al. A2Z 28/1: Where can you get any dirt in this town?
2001		Da Smokehouse Marijuana Gloss. 🌐 dirt – very poor quality dope.

(b) heroin.

1973		Maurer & Vogel Narcotics and Narcotic Addiction in Maurer Lang. Und. (1981).
1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 442: June Bey had stolen things from the house; he had people doing dirt with him in the upstairs bedrooms.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 7: Dirt — Heroin.
2002		Simon & Burns ‘Old Cases’ Wire ser. 1 ep. 4 [TV script] Hisson is getting all fucked up and doing the dirt and getting high.

11. (US) an alienated drug-taking youth, sometimes one who enjoys ‘Goth’ music and the associated lifestyle.

1991		D. Gaines Teenage Wasteland 99: While dirts (dirtbags, dirtballs, dirt merchants, dirtbombs) dress like they just walked out of 1968 — ‘freaks’ — they are wholly ‘today’s kids’ and full of contradictions.
1997–2000		College Sl. Research Project (Cal. State Poly. Uni., Pomona) 🌐 Dirt (noun) A person who dresses in all black and often is associated with the music and the memorabilia of Marylin Manson.

In compounds

dirt devil (n.)

(US drugs) an individual who has low quality marijuana.

2001

Da Smokehouse Marijuana Gloss. 🌐 dirt devil – an individual who, on most occasions, has poor grade dope.

dirt farm (n.) [pun on SE]

(US black) any centre for (malicious) gossip.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 198: There were terms related to gossip and those who gossiped: dirt farm (source or place of gossip).

dirt grass (n.)

see sense 10a above.

dirt sheet (n.)

(US) a scurrilous gossip magazine.

2023

(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 12: [F]our file cabinets [...] packed with dirt sheets ansd filthy snapshots.

In phrases

blow some dirt (v.)

(US gay) to gossip maliciously.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 34: blow some dirt to gossip, talk idly about others, backbite.

deal (in) dirt (v.) (also do dirt)

(US black) to gossip, to malign.

1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 198: There were terms related to gossip and those who gossiped: [...] deal/do dirt (gossip, talk badly about someone). [Ibid.] 234: deal in dirt, do dirt 1. Gossip. 2. Talk badly (about another).
2003		R. Kahn October Men 76: ‘Rough stuff,’ Steinbrenner said, ‘not only stories about the politicians but about their wives. Drinking. Sex. Very damn distasteful, if you ask me.’ George told me that he refused to deal in dirt.

dish (out/up) the dirt (v.) (also dig up dirt, dish the dope/joint)

to gossip maliciously, to slander; thus dirt disher, a gossip; dirt-dishing n., adj., gossip, gossiping.

1920		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 101: Taking the pride of the household out for his evening stroll as the neighborhood dirt dishers stand by and dish it out.
1932		J.L. Kuethe ‘Johns Hopkins Jargon’ in AS VII:5 331: dish the dirt / dish the dope — ‘Let’s hear the gossip’; ‘What do you know?’.
1934		Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves 16: Dishing up the dirt to the young master can scarcely be described as gassing all over the place.
1934		F. Nebel ‘Take It and Like It’ in Ruhm Hard-Boiled Detective (1977) 107: Dish us the dirt, and I don’t care how dirty you dish it.
1934		R.L. Bellem ‘Sleeping Dogs’ in Spicy Detective Sept. 🌐 Hal Somers is a New York dirt-dishing columnist. He knows everything about everybody.
1936		A.E. Duckett ‘Truckin ’round Brooklyn’ in N.Y. Age 5 Dec. 7/1: Daniel Carney does this week’s dirt-dishing.
1947		(con. 1944) J.H. Burns Gallery (1948) 135: Their conversation was a series of laments and groans and criticisms of everyone else present. They called this dishing the joint.
1954		Wodehouse Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit 195: Come what might, the dirt would have to be dished.
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 44: They drank more bouillon, popped more bennie and dished the dirt.
1989		M. Amis London Fields 78: Auxi cleaned the flat and dished the dirt.
1995		D. Lodge Therapy (1996) 71: You don’t get any dirt if you don’t dish some yourself.
1995		Jaffe Cohen & Bob Smith ‘To Think That I Saw Him On Christopher Street’ 🎵 And Bruno just smiled as he took off his shirt / And he said ‘Mary, please!’ as he dished out the dirt.
2004		N. ‘Razor’ Smith A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun 221: She was dying to dish the dirt.
2019		P. Baker Fabulosa 291/2: dish the dirt to talk things over, gossip.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 17: They [...] dug up dirt on my regular retainer.
2023		J. Ellroy Enchanters 2: A freelance extortionist, scandal-rag dirt-digger, strongarm goon [etc].

do dirt (v.)

(UK black) to commit a crime.


2018-20		T. Thorne (ed.) ‘Drill Slang Glossary’ at Forensic Linguistic Databank 🌐 do dirt - commit an illicit act.

do dirt to someone (v.) (also do dirt by someone, do dirty, do someone dirt)

1. to harm, to injure deliberately, often verbally; also ext. to a place.

1842		Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 12 Feb. n.p.: [She] ought to have known better; said Dixon done her dirt enough.
1889		S. Bailey Ups and Downs of a Crook’s Life 18: I was very much afraid that Billy was going to ‘do me dirt’ by giving me the slip after I had got the boodle.
1894		Mirror of Life 17 Mar. 15/2: [US speaker] ‘All ready,’ called the referee. ‘Go in ’n do ’er dirt,’ cried the seconds.
1893		S. Crane Maggie, a Girl of the Streets (2001) 12: ‘Look at deh dirt what yeh done me,’ he yelled. ‘Deh ol’ woman ’ll be raisin’ hell.’ [Ibid.] 52: Yer doin’ me dirt, Nell! I never taut ye’d do me dirt.
1900		Flynt & Walton Powers That Prey 49: It ain’t a case o’ beefin’ on a pal, Dick; it’s a case o’ doin’ dirt by me an’ the kids.
1909		W.M. Raine Brand Blotters (1912) 200: I did you dirt onct, girl. And I’ve been a bad lot.
1913–14		E. O’Neill The Web in Ten ‘Lost’ Plays (1995) 57: But yuh wouldn’t have me pinched, would yuh, Steve? Yuh wouldn’t do me dirt like that?
1929		J. Lait Broadway Melody 97: We did her a lot of dirt the way we talked.
1930		R. Whitfield Green Ice (1988) 29: Donner did Red some dirt on the witness stand.
1943		W.F. Whyte Street Corner Society (1955) 101: Finally he did me dirt.
1947		(con. 1944) J.H. Burns Gallery (1948) 7: His brother who always did him dirt in their partnership in the seed business.
1953		J. Thompson Criminal (1993) 106: He done plenty dirt to me.
1969		M. Puzo Godfather 320: He had done this bastard a real favor and he was acting as if he’d been done dirt.
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 246: ‘Haven’t you done Lina dirty enough?’.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 66: do one some dirt 1. bring another grief through gossip or lies.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 234: deal in dirt, do dirt [...] Talk badly (about another).
1989		R. Dahl Rhyme Stew (1990) 25: Would you, for instance, give your shirt / To know who’s going to do you dirt?
2003		G. Pelecanos Soul Circus 165: Why you want to go and do him dirt now?
2006		D. Winslow Winter of Frankie Machine (2007) 127: He was always griping about how he’d been screwed, how this guy or that guy had done him dirt in a deal.
2014		Grizzle ‘Mandem Salute’ 🎵 Please don’t go on like your bad and know who’s who / You ain’t done dirt with the gang you’re a new yute.
2020		G. Krauze What They Was 155: Half of these rappers ain’t even done any serious dirt on the roads.

2. (also do dirt) to act in a deliberately immoral or unethical manner.

1893		M.A. Owen Voodoo Tales 274: If I tek ter doin’ dirt, den Ise willin’ ter be jacky-me-lantuhn — an’ sarve me right, too!
1907		S.E. White Arizona Nights III 306: I’ve done you dirt. Cut my heart out, if you want to.
1914		J.C. Ruppenthal ‘A Word-List From Kansas’ in DN IV:ii 105: do (one) dirt, v. phr. To injure (one) in a contemptible way, especially betrayal.
1933		J. Spenser Limey 200: Somebody’s done you a whole heap o’ dirt an’ you’ve hit the bottom step with a bang.
1957		‘Neville Shute’ On the Beach 205: To do her dirt for three month’s pleasure and nothing at the end of it – well [...] I may be a loose woman, but I don’t know that I’m all that loose.
1968		J. Hersey Algiers Motel Incident 212: It’s more colored people that’s got criminal records than white people, and white people do just as much dirt as the colored people do.
1969		P. Theroux Murder in Mount Holly (1999) 39: Or shall I tell you he was a big producer who did me dirt?
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 252: ‘But why is Red Mike gonna get his now? He’s been doing dirt all along and nobody’s ever tried to kill him before’.
1991		L. Bing Do or Die (1992) 89: This set is known for doin’ dirt, anyway, and they wanted to get back at my brother.
2001		(con. 1990s) J. Miller One of the Guys 83: Most girls [...] described criminal acts (‘doing dirt’) as a way to raise one’s rank.
2002		Simon & Burns ‘One Arrest’ Wire ser. 1 ep. 7 [TV script] I do some dirt too, but I ain’t never put my gun on nobody who wasn’t in the game.
2005		G. Pelecanos Drama City 150: The pillars kept dealers and killers from doing their dirt where mothers walked and children played.
2014		T.I. ‘New National Anthem’ 🎵 Yeah I had felonies, I done did dirt in the streets.
2019		N. Walker Cherry 235: [T]here was usually an undercover cop or two at Rock-and-Roll McDonald’s. Still you had to go and do some dirt there every now and then because if you didn’t you were fucking nothing.

3. to pass on gossip.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 66: do one some dirt [...] 2. tell some juicy morsel of news ‘Do me some dirt, girl!’.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 234: deal in dirt, do dirt 1. Gossip.

do the dirt (v.)

see do the dirties under dirty n.

do the dirt on someone (v.)

see do someone the dirty under dirty n.

ship dirt on (v.)

(Aus.) to betray, to denounce.

2021

C. Hammer Opal Country 99: ‘They were close to Ottridge, thought I’d shipped dirt on him to advance my own career’.

sling (the) dirt (at) (v.) (also sling off dirt, sling (the) shit) [sling v. (2a)]

(Aus./N.Z.) to malign, to slander.

1914		C.J. Dennis ‘The Play’ in Bulletin (Sydney) 16 July 47/1: A tug named Tyball (cousin to the skirt) / Sprags ’em an’ makes a start to sling off dirt.
1926		Boys’ Realm 16 Jan. 267: There’s a certain type of fellow who delights in slinging dirt.
1959		D. Hewett Bobbin Up (1961) 18: ‘Don’t you sling shit at me,’ she shrieked. ‘Don’t you throw up at me about the kids on the State and one dead.’.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

throw some dirt on (v.)

(US black) to malign, to slander.

1983

R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].

SE in slang uses

In compounds

dirtbag

see separate entries.

dirtball

see separate entries.

dirtbird (n.) [? dial. dirt bird, the skua but prob. SE dirt + bird n.¹ (3a)]

(Irish) a general term of abuse.

1996		J. Murphy A Picture of Paradise in McGuinness Dazzling Dark (1996) Act I: I’m not a dirt bird. I’m not scum.
1997		Irish Times 8 July 🌐 You [Bertie Ahern] were a dirt-bird, always looking to give someone a kick .

dirtbomb (n.)

see dirtball n.

dirt-box (n.) [box n.¹ (1d)]

the anus.

1963		C. Wood ‘John Thomas’ in Cockade (1965) Act I: Placed smartly up his dirt box – for the twice as quick to Damascus.
1976		(ref. to 1940s) R. Barnes Coronation Cups and Jam Jars 133: Well, you can shove that up your dirt box as far as you can poke it.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.
1997		Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 87 Dec. n.p.: dirtbox n. Rectum.
2000		M. Manning Get Your Cock Out 57: Does my penchant for hornsmoking and being slammed up the dirtbox bother you at all?
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 98: I’ll do ya up the shitter [...] You love it up the dirtbox, you posh slags!

dirt chute (n.)

1. (US) the anus.

1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 312/2: 1979.
2002		Doctor Dan ‘Horny Family’ at mrdouble.com 🌐 ‘Your mommy is getting it up her ass!’ [...] Jason couldn’t believe it. How fucking horny was that! His mom taking her black boss up the dirt chute.

2. an insult.

2002

Dark Angel episode 9 ‘Red’ at DarkAngelFan.com 🌐 Don’t tell me your conscience got the better of you. Three-plus decades of being a world-class dirt chute and all of a sudden you wake up one morning and have to do the right thing.

dirt-dobber (n.) (also dirt dauber) [SE dob, to dab, to pat/scratcher, also US, a kind of wasp]

1. (US, Southern/Western) a poor farmer.

1947		C. Willingham End as a Man (1963) 76: He dressed okay, not like a dirtdobber, or the way a nigger’ll dress.
1958		E. Frankel Band of Brothers 242: A dirt farmer [...] a dirt dauber.

2. (US, Southern/Western) a worthless person.

1962

P. Crump Burn, Killer, Burn! 9: Hey, dirt-dobber! [...] Who are you?

3. (US campus) a sandal.

1969

in Current Sl. IV:3–4 (1970) 18: Guatemaly dirt dobbers, n. Sandals.

dirt-eater (n.) [clay-eater under clay n.]

1. (US) a poor white; also attrib.; thus derog. adj. dirt-eating.

1844		in H. Catterall Judicial Cases II 392: The defendant drew a receipt for the purchase money [...] in which he stated [...] (they) were dirt eaters [DA].
1845		J.J. Hooper Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs (1851) 88: ‘Whar do you aim to bury your dead Injuns, Cap’en?’ sarcastically inquired the little dirt-eater. ‘I’ll bury you, you little whifflin fice,’ said Captain Suggs in a rage.
1851		J.J. Hooper ‘The Elephant in Lafayette’ Tales of Alabama in Hudson Humor of the Old Deep South (1936) 121: ‘Is it a rail woman in thar?’ asked a skeptical dirt-eater.
1863		‘Edmund Kirke’ Life in Dixie’s Land 190: The dirt-eater did as he was bidden.
1871		E. Eggleston Hoosier School-Master (1892) 101: These bands of desperadoes still found among the ‘poor whitey,’ ‘dirt-eater’ class.
1913		A.C. Cole Whig Party in So. 189: The disunion men [c. 1851] [...] tried to discredit the Union movement in the eyes of Democrats by applying to it such epithets as [...] ‘Dirt-eaters’ [DA].
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl. 11: clay-eater, dirt-eater. Poor whites who eat clay.
1940		F. Hunt Long Trail from Texas 130: Why don’t ya tell this bunch a’ dirt-eatin’ shorthorns ta go ta hell.
1944		Botkin A Treasury of Amer. Folklore 322: Pineywoods tackies, hill-billies, dirt-eaters, clay-eaters.
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 10: The Lord just don’t want a bunch of dirt-eating buggers walking the Streets of Gold.
1980		N. Algren ‘No More Christmases’ in Entrapment (2009) 261: You’re my kind of cop [...] you dirt-eating toad.
1988		(con. 1940s) C. Bram Hold Tight (1990) 130: Dumbass cracker [...] Dirt-eating Willy Cornbread.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 118: A poor Southern white, a.k.a. clay-eater.

2. (US) a toady.

1873

Democrat & Chron. (Rochester, NY) 6 May 2/3: He is head flunkey and dirt-eater to every despicable titled thing.

dirt hawk (n.)

(US gay, west.) ‘rough trade’.

2022

(con. late 19C) J. Nevins ‘Western frontier gay slang’ on Twitter 2 Mar. 🌐 ‘dirt hawks’ = rough trade, presumably after ‘soiled doves’ (female prostitutes).

dirthead (n.)

see dirtbag n.

dirt-man (n.)

a nightsoil collector.

1772

S. Whyte ‘A Familiar Epistle’ in A. Carpenter Verse in Eng. in 18C Ireland (1998) 320: The Hoarseness of the Dirt-man’s Throat.

dirt merchant (n.)

see dirtball n.

dirtnap

see separate entries.

dirt-pipe (n.)

the anus.

2012

R. Milward Kimberly’s Capital Punishment (2023) 131: [O]ne of his thumbs up my / Dirt-pipe.

dirt road (n.)

see separate entry.

dirt run (n.)

see dirt road n.

dirt surfer (n.) [SE surfer used as explorer, e.g. Net surfer]

(US) one who has abandoned most if not all the normal standards of hygiene and cleanliness.

1998

JamBands.com mag. 🌐 As grating as it can be to hear that dirt-surfer say it, we really *are* all brothers and sisters under the skin.

dirt tamper (n.) [SE tamp, to ram down hard]

a male homosexual, a sodomite.

1941		G. Legman ‘Lang. of Homosexuality’ Appendix VII in Henry Sex Variants.
1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 12: dirt tamper (n.): A pedicator. (Slang.) (See tamp (Oxford Dictionary): To ram home; to ram down hard.).
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 17: the man who fucks in anal intercourse, as opposed to the one who is fucked [...] dirt tamper (’40s).

dirt track (n.)

see separate entry.

In phrases

hit the dirt (v.)

1. (US, also dig (the) dirt) to throw oneself to the ground.

1908		N.Y. Press 4 July in Fleming Unforgettable Season (1981) 114: Titus did not slide [...] and the failure to hit the dirt cost him $25.
1922		Mohave County Miner (AZ) 3 Nov. 1/2: The car [...] skidded and pitched all the occupants out. They hit the dirt head on.
1933		J. Conroy Disinherited 183: Now you bums unload out o’ there! Hit the dirt!
1944		H. Brown Walk in Sun 15: Take them a hundred yards up from the barge and hit the dirt. [Ibid.] 119: He dug dirt again as a row of bullets passed over him.
1967		(con. 1950s) McAleer & Dickson Unit Pride (1981) 27: He must have been caught in an artillery barrage and didn’t know enough to hit the dirt.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 38: He didn’t see nuthin’, he hit the dirt.
1991		L.R. Arakaki 7 December 1941 82: The colonel hit the dirt and stayed there for the remainder of the first wave attack.
2000		(con. WWII) S.T. Tyng et al. Capture of Attu 120: I had made three or four dashes, the bullets whistling around me, and I hit the dirt again.

2. to run away, to leave quickly.

1911		El Paso Herald (TX) 26 July n.p.: Never fiddle round and stall— / Hit the dirt!
1932		M. Marshall Travels of Tramp-Royal 231: We drummed-up, smoked, yarned, then hit the dirt. Through woods, over moors.
1947		W.D. Overholser Buckaroo’s Code (1948) 63: And, Cotton, hit the dirt! You won’t have a chance with that damned bunch of killers.
2002		S. Malensek The Weekend Warriors 28: Not willing to surrender, I tried to hit the dirt to get out of his field of fire.