gather dust
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Remain unused.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
When the project is completed copies of the project report, written up and assessed, gather dust, one on the tutor's shelf another on the student's.
Aye but they've got it now, there's about eight copies out on the, all on the shelf gathering dust.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “gather dust” mean?
Remain unused.
Is “gather dust” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.