Bite the dust
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
Fall dead or defeated; more broadly, fail, break down, or come to an end.
Origin
The exact English wording is recorded in Tobias Smollett's translation of The Adventures of Gil Blas in 1748-50, where defeated opponents are made to bite the dust. It belongs to a much older family of images in which the vanquished fall face down and lick or eat the earth; lick the dust appears in biblical English, and comparable images occur in classical literature. Western films and Queen's 1980 song made the phrase newly conspicuous, but neither created it.
Research Sources
Variants
- Another one bites the dust
Usage Examples
- Two more proposals bit the dust when the funding round closed.
- The old washing machine finally bit the dust halfway through a cycle.
- In the final chapter, the usurper bites the dust and the exiles return home.