noun
Fine particles of dirt or other matter that accumulate on surfaces or float in the air.
机の上に塵が積もっている。
Dust has accumulated on the desk.
掃除機で部屋の塵を吸い取った。
I vacuumed up the dust and dirt from the room.
noun
negligible amount; tiny bit
Used in negative constructions like 塵ほども...ない to emphasize that there is not even the slightest amount of something.
彼には塵ほどの良心もない。
He doesn't have a shred of conscience.
noun
hustle and bustle of life; worldly cares
Buddhist-influenced metaphor for the distractions and impurities of secular life. Often appears in set phrases like 塵にまみれる.
俗世の塵にまみれて暮らす。
I live covered in the dust of the mundane world.
noun
ritual sumo gesture for a clean fight
Abbreviation of 塵手水 (ちりちょうず), the symbolic hand-cleansing motion performed by sumo wrestlers before a bout.
See also: 塵手水
力士は土俵で塵を切る。
The sumo wrestler performs the ritual hand gesture in the ring.
The kanji 塵 is a phono-semantic compound with 鹿 (deer) and 土 (earth), originally depicting dust raised by deer. The reading ちり is native Japanese, with uncertain deeper origin.