'To bite the dust' definitions:

Definition of 'To bite the dust'

From: GCIDE
  • Bite \Bite\ (b[imac]t), v. t. [imp. Bit (b[i^]t); p. p. Bitten (b[i^]t"t'n), Bit; p. pr. & vb. n. Biting.] [OE. biten, AS. b[imac]tan; akin to D. bijten, OS. b[imac]tan, OHG. b[imac]zan, G. beissen, Goth. beitan, Icel. b[imac]ta, Sw. bita, Dan. bide, L. findere to cleave, Skr. bhid to cleave. [root]87. Cf. Fissure.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. To seize with the teeth, so that they enter or nip the thing seized; to lacerate, crush, or wound with the teeth; as, to bite an apple; to bite a crust; the dog bit a man. [1913 Webster]
  • Such smiling rogues as these, Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the mouth. "Frosts do bite the meads." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To cheat; to trick; to take in. [Colloq.] --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to; as, the anchor bites the ground. [1913 Webster]
  • The last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, . . . it turned and turned with nothing to bite. --Dickens. [1913 Webster]
  • To bite the dust, To bite the ground, to fall in the agonies of death; as, he made his enemy bite the dust.
  • To bite in (Etching), to corrode or eat into metallic plates by means of an acid.
  • To bite the thumb at (any one), formerly a mark of contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel; to defy. "Do you bite your thumb at us?" --Shak.
  • To bite the tongue, to keep silence. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'To bite the dust'

From: GCIDE
  • Dust \Dust\ (d[u^]st), n. [AS. dust; cf. LG. dust, D. duist meal dust, OD. doest, donst, and G. dunst vapor, OHG. tunist, dunist, a blowing, wind, Icel. dust dust, Dan. dyst mill dust; perh. akin to L. fumus smoke, E. fume. [root]71.]
  • 1. Fine, dry particles of earth or other matter, so comminuted that they may be raised and wafted by the wind; that which is crumbled to minute portions; fine powder; as, clouds of dust; bone dust. [1913 Webster]
  • Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. --Gen. iii. 19. [1913 Webster]
  • Stop! -- for thy tread is on an empire's dust. --Byron. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A single particle of earth or other matter. [R.] "To touch a dust of England's ground." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. The earth, as the resting place of the dead. [1913 Webster]
  • For now shall sleep in the dust. --Job vii. 21. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body. [1913 Webster]
  • And you may carve a shrine about my dust. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Figuratively, a worthless thing. [1913 Webster]
  • And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Figuratively, a low or mean condition. [1913 Webster]
  • [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust. --1 Sam. ii. 8. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Gold dust; hence: (Slang) Coined money; cash. [1913 Webster]
  • Down with the dust, deposit the cash; pay down the money. [Slang] "My lord, quoth the king, presently deposit your hundred pounds in gold, or else no going hence all the days of your life. . . . The Abbot down with his dust, and glad he escaped so, returned to Reading." --Fuller.
  • Dust brand (Bot.), a fungous plant (Ustilago Carbo); -- called also smut.
  • Gold dust, fine particles of gold, such as are obtained in placer mining; -- often used as money, being transferred by weight.
  • In dust and ashes. See under Ashes.
  • To bite the dust. See under Bite, v. t.
  • To raise dust, or
  • To kick up dust, to make a commotion. [Colloq.]
  • To throw dust in one's eyes, to mislead; to deceive. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'To bite the dust'