From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdust something ↔ off phrasal verb1 DHCto remove something such as dust or dirt from your clothes by brushing them with your hands They were dusting off leaves and twigs.dust yourself off He got to his feet and dusted himself off.2 PREPAREto get something ready in order to use it again, after not using it for a long time The government is dusting off schemes for supporting creative industries. → dust→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
dust off• Cromwell, meanwhile, picked up his hat and dusted it off.• He clambered down, dusted himself off.• Retrieve your old dreams and dust them off.• However, Grimm was already picking himself up, swearing, dusting himself off, retrieving his cap.• The layer contains enough dust to shut off sunlight from the surface of the planet for several months to a year.• Connors stood up and tried to dust the mud off the front of his fatigues.• The dust therefore cuts off the ultimate source of the disturbance that raises more dust.• After a while, they dusted me off to base camp.dust yourself off• He clambered down, dusted himself off.• Mentally, I got up and dusted myself off.• William clambers over with terrible difficulty, dusts himself off and heads towards where she stands.• She dusts herself off and rejoins the group.• Swindon have got to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start all over again.• The soldier rose, dusted himself off, pulled out his card, and presented it to the two boys.• However, Grimm was already picking himself up, swearing, dusting himself off, retrieving his cap. 