bite the dust

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

Idioms and Phrases

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.”

Example Sentences

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

The hopes of eight more nations will bite the dust after the first knockout round, which includes England against Senegal and BBC football expert Chris Sutton's adopted nation, Japan.

From BBC

Three extremely undesirable citizens bite the dust before the scene is over, but there remains one more to be disposed of in the last chapter.

From New York Times

“You told them this government is evil and this government will very soon bite the dust. You did all that, Desmond Tutu.”

From Reuters

Seeing that and other jobs bite the dust was "so disappointing", she says.

From BBC