bite the dust

bite the dust

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

bite the dust (third-person singular simple present bites the dust, present participle biting the dust, simple past bit the dust, past participle bitten the dust)

1. (idiomatic, euphemistic) To die.
   • 1900, Samuel Butler, transl. The Odyssey, Book XXII., page 293

     Ulysses killed Demoptolemus, Telemachus Euryades, Eumæus Elatus, while the stockman killed Pisander. These all bit the dust, and as the others drew back into a corner Ulysses and his men rushed forward and regained their spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead

   • 1877, Frances Fuller Victor, Eleven years in the Rocky Mountains and a life on the frontier, Chapter IX, p. 156

     Three more warriors bit the dust...

2. (idiomatic) To quit, or fail.
   • 1979, The Clash (music), “London Calling”:

     London calling, now don't look to us / Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust

   My old backpack finally bit the dust the other day.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:die

Translations

to die

Czech: natáhnout bačkory (cs), zaklepat bačkorama pf Danish: bide i graesset Dutch: in het zand bijten Finnish: potkaista tyhjää (fi), heittää veivinsä (fi) French: avaler son extrait de naissance (fr), (colloquial) claquer (fr), (colloquial) crever (fr), (informal) calancher (fr) German: ins Gras beißen (de) Interlingua: morder le pulvere Italian: mordere la terra, tirare le cuoia Norwegian: Bokmål: bite i gresset (no), bite i graset Nynorsk: bite i graset

Polish: kopnąć w kalendarz (pl) Portuguese: ir desta para a melhor Russian: сыгра́ть в я́щик (ru) (sygrátʹ v jáščik), дать ду́ба (ru) (datʹ dúba) Spanish: morder la tierra, morder el polvo Swedish: bita i gräset (sv) Telugu: మట్టి కరుచు (maṭṭi karucu) Turkish: can vermek (tr), canı çıkmak (tr), dünyaya gözlerini yummak, nalları dikmek (tr)

to quit or fail

Chinese: Mandarin: 吃灰 (chīhuī) Czech: rozbít se pf, dat kožu pf (Moravian) Finnish: sanoa sopimuksensa irti, perua kontrahtinsa French: mordre la poussière (fr), lâcher (fr) German: ins Gras beißen (de)

Interlingua: morder le pulvere Italian: mangiare la polvere, fallire (it), essere sconfitto Norwegian: Bokmål: bite i gresset (no), bite i graset Nynorsk: bite i graset Swedish: bita i gräset (sv)