return to dust

verb

To die.

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Meanings

verbreturn to dust (third-person singular simple present returns to dust, present participle returning to dust, simple past and past participle returned to dust)

present singular third person returns to dust · participle present returning to dust · participle past returned to dust · past returned to dust

  1. euphemisticfigurativelyTo die.

    Alexander died: Alexander was buried: Alexander returneth into dust

    c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]
Cite this entry
APA

return to dust. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/return%20to%20dust

MLA

“return to dust.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/return%20to%20dust. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “return to dust,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/return%20to%20dust.

Source: return to dust on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.