Idiom
Bite the dust
To bite the dust means to fail, break, be defeated or stop working. In older or dramatic use, it can also mean to die.
How people use it
Today it is mostly lighthearted: a phone, a car, a plan or a favorite restaurant bites the dust. In sports, a team that loses can bite the dust. The older meaning of dying in battle survives in action movies and Westerns, but in everyday speech the phrase is usually about things, not people. The tone is informal and often humorous. The past tense is bit the dust.
Examples
- Another one of my houseplants bit the dust while I was away on vacation.
- Our old coffee maker finally bit the dust, so we're drinking tea this week.
- The team's playoff hopes bit the dust after a last-minute loss.
Where it comes from
The image of a fallen fighter face down in the dirt is very old. English translations of ancient epic poems, such as Homer's, described fallen warriors biting the ground or the dust. The exact phrase bite the dust appears in English from the 1700s, and American Western stories and films later made it popular.
Check yourself
1. If your laptop bites the dust, what happens?
Answer: It breaks or stops working. Bite the dust means to fail or stop working, often said humorously.
2. What is the past tense form people use?
Answer: Bit the dust. The past tense of bite is bit, so people say something bit the dust.
Similar idioms
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