grime

Etymology

From Middle English grim (“dirt or soot covering the face”), from a specialized note of Old English grīma (“mask”), from Proto-Germanic *grīmô (“mask”). Possibly influenced by Old Dutch grijmsel, Middle Dutch grime, Middle Low German greme (“dirt”), compare Danish grimet (“soiled, stripy”), Norwegian Bokmål grimete (“soiled, stripy”), Norwegian Nynorsk grimete (“soiled, stripy”).

noun

1. Dirt, grease, soot, etc. that is ingrained and difficult to remove.
   Underneath all that soot, dirt and grime is the true beauty of the church in soft shades of sandstone.
   Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess
2. (music) A genre of urban music that emerged in London, England, in the early 2000s, primarily a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop.

verb

1. To begrime; to cake with dirt.
   All grimed with coaldust, they swing along the street with their dinner baskets and cans in their hands, chattering merrily. 1862, Edwin Waugh, Home-Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk during the Cotton Famine
   Fog from the river rolled up the street and the windows were grimed by soot, but Cartwright had not turned on the electric light. 1920, Harold Bindloss, Lister's Great Adventure
   His skin was grimed with dust, for he had ridden hard in scorching heat, and was anxious and impatient to get on. 1918, Harold Bindloss, The Buccaneer Farmer