Crushed or powdered marble, sometimes used as a basic carbonate, and frequently used in art as an inert pigment, in the plaster used in frescos, in surface coatings, etc.
Origin
Mid 19th century; earliest use found in Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864), author.
Definition of marble dust in US English:
marble dust
noun
Crushed or powdered marble, sometimes used as a basic carbonate, and frequently used in art as an inert pigment, in the plaster used in frescos, in surface coatings, etc.
Origin
Mid 19th century; earliest use found in Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864), author.