How to Use dust devil in a Sentence

dust devil

noun
  • The wind picked up; a dust devil spun.
    — Literary Hub, 21 Nov. 2025
  • These are very similar to how dust devils form on land.
    — Joseph Buczek, CBS News, 20 May 2026
  • Mars’s atmosphere has dust and sand and is prone to dust devils and dust storms.
    — Payal Dhar, Scientific American, 26 Nov. 2025
  • Then, last spring, like a dust devil of bad luck, Sykes’ life shattered.
    — Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2021
  • The dust devil formed at second base when Scurci moved to her left to field the ground ball.
    — Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 24 Oct. 2024
  • Sometimes, dust devils can be helpful.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Dark streaks near the lander came from dust devils that moved over it in February.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 17 Oct. 2019
  • The dust devil, a tiny little low pressure system, forms as a result.
    — Angela Fritz, Washington Post, 8 May 2018
  • The weather was strange, with storm clouds to the east, but at a far distance, and even a few dust devils, far to the north.
    — Idaho Statesman, 2 Mar. 2016
  • There’s a sprawling cattle ranch nearby, and a dust devil moves in the distance.
    — Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 6 May 2026
  • Weaver guessed that the dust devil lasted about two minutes, which is typical.
    — Allie Caren, Washington Post, 29 May 2018
  • Wiles, who is 17, didn't hesitate to get Zoya free of the dust devil.
    — Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 16 May 2023
  • Tim and Aymeric point out how the dust devil makes the movement of the air visible.
    — Dava Sobel, Discover Magazine, 30 Jan. 2011
  • The dust devil blows off the catcher’s hat as the umpire wraps him in his arms and hurriedly moves him away from home plate.
    — Leada Gore | [email protected], al, 15 May 2023
  • While tornados form from clouds and extend to the ground, a dust devil starts from a whirlwind at ground level.
    — Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 15 Dec. 2021
  • Beneath its thin sky, dust storms roar, dust devils twist across the surface, and tiny grains of sand constantly rub against each other.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 11 Jan. 2026
  • But the latest data shows a much higher maximum for the dust devils as well as the winds surrounding them.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Faster dust devils tend to travel in very straight lines, while slower dust devils wobble from left to right, Bickel said.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025
  • As a dust devil whirled, Michelle Binion, 56, marveled at the rupture caused by the first quake.
    — Giulia McDonnell Nieto Del Rio, latimes.com, 9 July 2019
  • There would be slap-you-in-the-face winds, zap-you-dry sunrays, freeze-your-teeth temperature drops, and clouds that would swirl like cartoon dust devils.
    — Mark Johanson, Travel + Leisure, 29 July 2023
  • It's got a microphone, and a few years ago scientists reported hearing the sounds of a whirling dust devil passing over the rover.
    — Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR, 26 Nov. 2025
  • Broome now lives in Florida and captured the video showing a small – but fierce – dust devil whipping up on home plate just as a child was ready to swing his bat.
    — Leada Gore | [email protected], al, 15 May 2023
  • The sound of a passing dust devil was recorded on Mars, where a four-hour marsquake revealed that shear waves move faster in the planet’s southern highlands.
    — Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Mar. 2023
  • Arizona often doesn't have those conditions just right for tornados to spawn but does have dust devils that could be substituted for proper wind sheer.
    — Rey Covarrubias Jr., The Arizona Republic, 3 July 2024
  • That direction is northwest to southeast — the same direction as dust devil streaks visible on the surface from orbit.
    — Alison Klesman, Discover Magazine, 10 Dec. 2018
  • In a matter of seconds, 7-year-old Bauer Zoya, a catcher, was caught up in a dust devil, the outlets reported.
    — Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 16 May 2023
  • The spacecraft could prove lucky if a dust devil — a miniature whirlwind swirling along the Martian landscape — passes over and blows the dust off the solar panels.
    — Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 17 May 2022
  • The results showed that the dust devils and their surrounding winds can reach up to 44 m/s, or 160 km/h (100 mph).
    — Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2025
  • Spirit found rocks suggestive of hot springs, photographed a dust devil, and scaled a Martian mountain before becoming trapped in loose sands.
    — Dylan Moriarty, WSJ, 18 Feb. 2021
  • All that has shaped him — people, cultures, histories, dust devils, and panoramic desert vistas — is inseparable from his lyrics and his sounds.
    — Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 5 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dust devil.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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