from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Bite \Bite\ (b[imac]t), v. t. [imp. {Bit} (b[i^]t); p. p.
{Bitten} (b[i^]t"t'n), {Bit}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Biting}.] [OE.
biten, AS. b[imac]tan; akin to D. bijten, OS. b[imac]tan,
OHG. b[imac]zan, G. beissen, Goth. beitan, Icel. b[imac]ta,
Sw. bita, Dan. bide, L. findere to cleave, Skr. bhid to
cleave. [root]87. Cf. {Fissure}.]
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Such smiling rogues as these,
Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some
insects) used in taking food.
[1913 Webster]
3. To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure,
in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the
mouth. "Frosts do bite the meads." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
4. To cheat; to trick; to take in. [Colloq.] --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
5. To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to; as, the
anchor bites the ground.
[1913 Webster]
The last screw of the rack having been turned so
often that its purchase crumbled, . . . it turned
and turned with nothing to bite. --Dickens.
[1913 Webster]
{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. "Do you
bite your thumb at us?" --Shak.
{To bite the tongue}, to keep silence. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Dust \Dust\ (d[u^]st), 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. [root]71.]
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 to minute portions; fine powder;
as, clouds of dust; bone dust.
[1913 Webster]
Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
--Gen. iii.
19.
[1913 Webster]
Stop! -- for thy tread is on an empire's dust.
--Byron.
[1913 Webster]
2. A single particle of earth or other matter. [R.] "To touch
a dust of England's ground." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
[1913 Webster]
For now shall sleep in the dust. --Job vii. 21.
[1913 Webster]
4. The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of
the human body.
[1913 Webster]
And you may carve a shrine about my dust.
--Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
5. Figuratively, a worthless thing.
[1913 Webster]
And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
6. Figuratively, a low or mean condition.
[1913 Webster]
[God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust. --1 Sam.
ii. 8.
[1913 Webster]
7. Gold dust; hence: (Slang) Coined money; cash.
[1913 Webster]
{Down with the dust}, deposit the cash; pay down the money.
[Slang] "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." --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 dust}, or
{To kick up dust}, to make a commotion. [Colloq.]
{To throw dust in one's eyes}, to mislead; to deceive.
[Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]