Bite
. A cheat; one who bites us. “The biter bit” explains the origin. We say “a man was bitten” when he “burns his fingers” meddling with something which promised well but turned out a failure.
To bite the dust, as “Their enemies shall bite the dust,” i.e. be slain in battle.
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Entry taken from
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,
edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.