leave someone in the dust
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.34 in modern English
30
Scrabble Score
21
Letters
4
Syllables
13
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The company has currently no plans to switch away from the old designs, so they could very easily be left in the dust."
- "With that we parted. Presently after my friend overtook and passed me on a hired steed which seemed to scorn its cavalier; and I was left in the dust of his passage, a prey to whirling thoughts."
- "Also, a few good, active, progressive teachers in one school will set all the others to thinking. By selecting the most alert in each school, a little leaven will leaven the whole lump. The fear of being left in the dust of the procession is a spur if wisely directed."
- "In like manner, our great Henry, was not he forſaken? Left in the duſt of disfauour, and neglected all the time of his childhood?"
- "The soul knows itself to be more noble than the corruptible body, which it is now to leave in the dust;"
- "It was conformable to the eternal juſtice of his Father to exalt him that had humbled himſelf ſo much; Lowlineſs ſhall not always be left in the duſt to be deſpiſed."
Etymology
Originally (from 17th c.), to leave in the dust meant to abandon or leave something/someone behind - literally or figuratively on the dirt ground. In modern usage (since late 19th c.), the sense has shifted to one about being overtaken by a competitor, the allusion changing to being left in the airborne dust that has been kicked up by a faster runner, horse, or vehicle.