bite the dust - Definitions from Dictionary.com

5 results for: bite the dust

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bite

Audio Help [bahyt] Pronunciation Key verb, bit, bit·ten or bit, bit·ing, noun

–verb (used with object)

1.	to cut, wound, or tear with the teeth: She bit the apple greedily. The lion bit his trainer.

2.	to grip or hold with the teeth: Stop biting your lip!

3.	to sting, as does an insect.

4.	to cause to smart or sting: an icy wind that bit our faces.

5.	to sever with the teeth (often fol. by off): Don't bite your nails. The child bit off a large piece of the candy bar.

6.	to start to eat (often fol. by into): She bit into her steak.

7.	to clamp the teeth firmly on or around (often fol. by on): He bit hard on the stick while they removed the bullet from his leg.

Informal.

a.	to take advantage of; cheat; deceive: I got bitten in a mail-order swindle.

b.	to annoy or upset; anger: What's biting you, sorehead?

9.	to eat into or corrode, as does an acid.

10.	to cut or pierce with, or as with, a weapon: The sword split his helmet and bit him fatally.

11.	Etching. to etch with acid (a copper or other surface) in such parts as are left bare of a protective coating.

12.	to take firm hold or act effectively on: We need a clamp to bite the wood while the glue dries.

13.	Archaic. to make a decided impression on; affect.

–verb (used without object)

14.	to press the teeth into something; attack with the jaws, bill, sting, etc.; snap: Does your parrot bite?

15.	Angling. (of fish) to take bait: The fish aren't biting today.

16.	to accept an offer or suggestion, esp. one intended to trick or deceive: I knew it was a mistake, but I bit anyway.

17.	Informal. to admit defeat in guessing: I'll bite, who is it?

18.	to act effectively; grip; hold: This wood is so dry the screws don't bite.

19.	Slang. to be notably repellent, disappointing, poor, etc.; suck.

–noun

20.	an act of biting.

21.	a wound made by biting: a deep bite.

22.	a cutting, stinging, or nipping effect: the bite of an icy wind; the bite of whiskey on the tongue.

23.	a piece bitten off: Chew each bite carefully.

24.	a small meal: Let's have a bite before the theater.

25.	a portion severed from the whole: the government's weekly bite of my paycheck.

26.	a morsel of food: not a bite to eat.

27.	the occlusion of one's teeth: The dentist said I had a good bite.

28.

Machinery.

a.	the catch or hold that one object or one part of a mechanical apparatus has on another.

b.	a surface brought into contact to obtain a hold or grip, as in a lathe chuck or similar device.

c.	the amount of material that a mechanical shovel or the like can carry at one time.

29.	sharpness; incisiveness; effectiveness: The bite of his story is spoiled by his slovenly style.

30.	the roughness of the surface of a file.

31.	Metalworking. the maximum angle, measured from the center of a roll in a rolling mill, between a perpendicular and a line to the point of contact where a given object to be rolled will enter between the rolls.

—Idioms

32.	bite off more than one can chew, to attempt something that exceeds one's capacity: In trying to build a house by himself, he bit off more than he could chew.

33.	bite someone's head off, to respond with anger or impatience to someone's question or comment: He'll bite your head off if you ask for anything.

34.	bite the bullet. bullet (def. 7).

35.	bite the dust. dust (def. 21).

36.	bite the hand that feeds one, to repay kindness with malice or injury: When he berates his boss, he is biting the hand that feeds him.

37.

put the bite on, Slang.

a.	to solicit or attempt to borrow money or something of value from.

b.	to press for money, as in extortion: They found out about his prison record and began to put the bite on him.

[Origin: bef. 1000; ME biten, OE bītan; c. OHG bīzan (G beissen), Goth beitan, ON bīta; akin to L findere to split

]

—Related forms

bit·a·ble, bite·a·ble, adjective

—Synonyms 1. gnaw, chew, nip. 22. mouthful, morsel, taste; scrap, crumb, dab. 23. snack, nosh.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
bite the dust

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

dust

Audio Help [duhst] Pronunciation Key

–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.

British.

a.	ashes, refuse, etc.

b.	junk¹ (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

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bite Audio Help   (bīt) Pronunciation Key
v.   bit (bĭt), bit·ten (bĭt'n) or bit, bit·ing, bites

v.   tr.

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.
To cut into with or as if with a sharp instrument: The ax bit the log deeply.
To grip, grab, or seize: bald treads that couldn't bite the icy road; bitten by a sudden desire to travel.
To eat into; corrode.
To cause to sting or be painful: cold that bites the skin; a conscience bitten by remorse.

v. intr.

To grip, cut into, or injure something with or as if with the teeth.
To have a stinging effect.
To have a sharp taste.
To take or swallow bait.
To be taken in by a ploy or deception: tried to sell the Brooklyn Bridge, but no one bit.
Vulgar Slang To be highly disagreeable or annoying.

The act of biting.
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.
An amount removed by or as if by an act of biting: Rezoning took a bite out of the town's residential area.
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.
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.
Dentistry The angle at which the upper and lower teeth meet; occlusion.
The corrosive action of acid upon an etcher's metal plate.
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.

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Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bite the dust

to fail; to be unsuccessful
Example: That's another scheme that's bitten the dust.

Arabic:	يَفْشَل، يَسْقُط، يَهْوي
Chinese (Simplified):	大败
Chinese (Traditional):	大敗
Czech:	selhat, neuspět
Danish:	bide i græsset
Dutch:	in het zand bijten
Estonian:	põrmu varisema
Finnish:	mennä pieleen, epäonnistua
French:	mordre la poussière
German:	ins Gras beißen
Greek:	αποτυγχάνω, καταρρέω
Hungarian:	kudarcba fullad, fűbe harap
Icelandic:	misheppnast; bíða bana
Indonesian:	gagal, kalah
Italian:	mordere la polvere*

Japanese:	失敗する
Latvian:	izgāzties (par projektu, plānu u.tml.)
Lithuanian:	nepavykti, nepasisekti
Norwegian:	bite i gresset
Polish:	nie wypalić, nie udać się
Portuguese (Brazil):	morder o pó
Portuguese (Portugal):	morder o pó
Romanian:	a eşua
Russian:	падать ниц
Slovak:	zlyhať, neuspieť
Slovenian:	polomiti si zobe
Spanish:	morder el polvo
Swedish:	bita i gräset, stupa
Turkish:	başarısızlığa uğramak, hezimete uğramak