grime
/ɡrʌɪm
/noun [mass noun]
1Dirt ingrained on the surface of something: the windows were thick with grime...
- For the mechanics, rain means washing bikes that are thick with dirt and grime after the race.
- This action frees particles of dirt, grime, and grease, which accumulate on your skin every day.
- There were visible layers of filth, grime, dirt, mildew on the sides of the shower stalls and on the floor.
Synonyms
dirt, smut, soot, dust, mud, filth, mire, sludge, dross, pollution
informal muck, gunge, yuck, crud, goo
British informal grot
2A form of dance music influenced by UK garage, characterized by machine-like sounds.
verb [with object]
Blacken or make dirty with grime: the windows were grimed like a coal miner’s goggles...
- The only sign of life there today came from a mouldy old caravan, all steamy windows and grimed with neglect, where a radio was playing Sunday morning music of the popular kind.
- The white Roman columns that supported the faded stucco were covered with cracks and lesions, and the windows were either boarded up or too grimed over to see through.
- Sara leapt at Rin, clawing at her with inch-long nails grimed with dirt as though she had clawed her way up from the grave.
Synonyms
begrime, blacken, dirty, make grimy, make dirty, make sooty, stain, soil, befoul, defile
literary besmirch
Origin
Middle English: from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch.