to bite the dust : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: to bite the dust	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for to bite the dust
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Dust \Dust\, 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. [?].] 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 too minute portions; fine powder; as, clouds of dust; bone dust. Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. --Gen. iii. 19. Stop! -- for thy tread is on an empire's dust. --Byron. 2. A single particle of earth or other matter. [R.] [bd]To touch a dust of England's ground.[b8] --Shak. 3. The earth, as the resting place of the dead. For now shall sleep in the dust. --Job vii. 21. 4. The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body. And you may carve a shrine about my dust. --Tennyson. 5. Figuratively, a worthless thing. And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust. --Shak. 6. Figuratively, a low or mean condition. [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust. --1 Sam. ii. 8. 7. Gold dust; hence: (Slang) Coined money; cash. {Down with the dust}, deposit the cash; pay down the money. [Slang] [bd]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.[b8] --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, [or] kick up, dust}, to make a commotion. [Colloq.] {To throw dust in one's eyes}, to mislead; to deceive. [Colloq.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Bite \Bite\, v. t. [imp. {Bit}; p. p. {Bitten}, {Bit}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Biting}.] [OE. biten, AS. b[c6]tan; akin to D. bijten, OS. b[c6]tan, OHG. b[c6]zan, G. beissen, Goth. beitan, Icel. b[c6]ta, Sw. bita, Dan. bide, L. findere to cleave, Skr. bhid to cleave. [root]87. Cf. {Fissure}.] 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. Such smiling rogues as these, Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain. --Shak. 2. To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food. 3. To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the mouth. [bd]Frosts do bite the meads.[b8] --Shak. 4. To cheat; to trick; to take in. [Colloq.] --Pope. 5. To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to; as, the anchor bites the ground. The last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, . . . it turned and turned with nothing to bite. --Dickens. {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. [bd]Do you bite your thumb at us?[b8] --Shak. {To bite the tongue}, to keep silence. --Shak.