bite the dust

Cultural  

1. Literally, to fall face down in the dirt; to suffer a defeat: “Once again, the champion wins, and another contender bites the dust.”

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bite the dust Idioms  

1. Suffer defeat or death, as in The 1990 election saw both of our senators bite the dust. Although this expression was popularized by American Western films of the 1930s, in which either cowboys or Indians were thrown from their horses to the dusty ground, it originated much earlier. Tobias Smollett had it in Gil Blas (1750): “We made two of them bite the dust.”

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Example Sentences

The hopes of another 16 nations will bite the dust after the first knockout round, which includes England against DR Congo and holders Argentina against surprise package Cape Verde.

From BBC • Jun. 28, 2026

Citing inflationary pressures and slumping enrollment, Cazenovia College in central New York will close at the end of the school year, making it among the latest to bite the dust.

From Washington Times • Apr. 5, 2023

We don’t see Tyene bite the dust on-screen, but I can’t imagine Benioff and Weiss suddenly deciding she’s worth the narrative investment to have her wriggle out of this.

From The Verge • Jul. 31, 2017

First to bite the dust was Baz Luhrmann’s hip-hop fantasia The Get Down.

From The Guardian • Jul. 24, 2017

If so, only the rascals would thrive and honest corporations would bite the dust.

From Search-Light Letters by Grant, Robert