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bite the dust

 - 7 dictionary results
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dust

  [duhst]
Use bite the dust in a Sentence
–noun
1. earth or other matter in fine, dry particles.
2. a cloud of finely powdered earth or other matter in the air.
3. any finely powdered substance, as sawdust.
4. the ground; the earth's surface.
5. the substance to which something, as the dead human body, is ultimately reduced by disintegration or decay; earthly remains.
6. British.
a. ashes, refuse, etc.
b. junk 1 (def. 1).
7. a low or humble condition.
8. anything worthless.
9. disturbance; turmoil.
10. gold dust.
11. the mortal body of a human being.
12. a single particle or grain.
13. Archaic. money; cash.
–verb (used with object)
14. to wipe the dust from: to dust a table.
15. to sprinkle with a powder or dust: to dust rosebushes with an insecticide.
16. to strew or sprinkle (a powder, dust, or other fine particles): to dust insecticide on a rosebush.
17. to soil with dust; make dusty.
–verb (used without object)
18. to wipe dust from furniture, woodwork, etc.
19. to become dusty.
20. to apply dust or powder to a plant, one's body, etc.: to dust with an insecticide in late spring.
—Idioms
21. bite the dust,
a. to be killed, esp. in battle; die.
b. to suffer defeat; be unsuccessful; fail: Another manufacturer has bitten the dust.
22. dust off,
a. Baseball. (of a pitcher) to throw the ball purposely at or dangerously close to (the batter).
b. to take out or prepare for use again, as after a period of inactivity or storage: I'm going to dust off my accounting skills and try to get a job in the finance department.
c. to beat up badly: The gang of hoodlums dusted off a cop.
23. leave one in the dust, to overtake and surpass a competitor or one who is less ambitious, qualified, etc.: Don't be so meek, they'll leave you in the dust.
24. lick the dust,
a. to be killed; die.
b. to humble oneself abjectly; grovel: He will resign rather than lick the dust.
25. make the dust fly, to execute with vigor or speed: We turned them loose on the work, and they made the dust fly.
26. shake the dust from one's feet, to depart in anger or disdain; leave decisively or in haste, esp. from an unpleasant situation: As the country moved toward totalitarianism, many of the intelligentsia shook the dust from their feet.
27. throw dust in someone's eyes, to mislead; deceive: He threw dust in our eyes by pretending to be a jeweler and then disappeared with the diamonds.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE dūst; c. G Dunst vapor

Related forms:
dustless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bite   (bīt)   
v.   bit (bĭt), bit·ten (bĭt'n) or bit, bit·ing, bites

v.   tr.

  1. To cut, grip, or tear with or as if with the teeth.

    1. To pierce the skin of with the teeth, fangs, or mouthparts.

    2. To sting with a stinger.

  3. To cut into with or as if with a sharp instrument: The ax bit the log deeply.

  4. To grip, grab, or seize: bald treads that couldn't bite the icy road; bitten by a sudden desire to travel.

  5. To eat into; corrode.

  6. To cause to sting or be painful: cold that bites the skin; a conscience bitten by remorse.

v.   intr.

  1. To grip, cut into, or injure something with or as if with the teeth.

  2. To have a stinging effect.

  3. To have a sharp taste.

  4. To take or swallow bait.

  5. To be taken in by a ploy or deception: tried to sell the Brooklyn Bridge, but no one bit.

  6. Vulgar Slang To be highly disagreeable or annoying.

n.  

  1. The act of biting.

  2. A skin wound or puncture produced by an animal's teeth or mouthparts: the bite of an insect.

    1. A stinging or smarting sensation.

    2. An incisive, penetrating quality: the bite of satire.

    3. An amount of food taken into the mouth at one time; a mouthful.

    4. Informal A light meal or snack.

    5. A secure grip or hold applied by a tool or machine upon a working surface.

    6. The part of a tool or machine that presses against and maintains a firm hold on a working surface.

  4. An amount removed by or as if by an act of biting: Rezoning took a bite out of the town's residential area.

  5. An excerpt or fragment taken from something larger, such as a film.

    1. An amount of food taken into the mouth at one time; a mouthful.

    2. Informal A light meal or snack.

    3. A secure grip or hold applied by a tool or machine upon a working surface.

    4. The part of a tool or machine that presses against and maintains a firm hold on a working surface.

  7. The act or an instance of taking bait: fished all day without a bite; an ad that got a few bites but no final sales.

    1. A secure grip or hold applied by a tool or machine upon a working surface.

    2. The part of a tool or machine that presses against and maintains a firm hold on a working surface.

  9. Dentistry The angle at which the upper and lower teeth meet; occlusion.

  10. The corrosive action of acid upon an etcher's metal plate.

  11. Slang An amount of money appropriated or withheld: trying to avoid the tax bite.


[Middle English biten, from Old English bītan; see bheid- in Indo-European roots.]
bit'a·ble, bite'a·ble adj., bit'er n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to seize and tear or grind something with the teeth: bite into a ripe apple; a horse champing at its bit; a cow chomping its hay; a dog gnawing a bone.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

bite the dust

Literally, to fall face down in the dirt; to suffer a defeat: “Once again, the champion wins, and another contender bites the dust.”

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
bite the dust

  1. tv.
    to die. : A shot rang out, and another cowboy bit the dust.
  2. tv.
    to break; to fail; to give out. : My car finally bit the dust.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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dust

  1. in.
    to leave; to depart. : They dusted out of there at about midnight.
  2. tv.
    to defeat someone; to win out over someone. : We dusted the other team, eighty-seven to fifty-four.
  3. tv.
    to kill someone. (Underworld.) : The gang set out to dust the witnesses but got only one of them.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

dust  (n.)
O.E. dust, from P.Gmc. *dunstaz, from PIE *dheu- with a sense of "smoke, vapor" (cf. Skt. dhu- "shake," L. fumus "smoke"). The verb means both "to sprinkle with dust" (1592) and "to rid of dust" (1568). Sense of "to kill" is U.S. slang first recorded 1938. Dustbowl in reference to a drought-plagued region of the U.S. Midwest first recorded 1936. Dustup "fight" is from 1897; to dust (someone's) coat was ironical for "to beat (someone) soundly" (1690).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

bite the dust

Suffer defeat or death, as in The 1990 election saw both of our senators bite the dust. Although this expression was popularized by American Western films of the 1930s, in which either cowboys or Indians were thrown from their horses to the dusty ground, it originated much earlier. Tobias Smollett had it in Gil Blas (1750): "We made two of them bite the dust."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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