In English idioms and phrases, choose the correct meaning of the expression to bite the dust.

Introduction / Context:
This question focuses on the English idiom to bite the dust. Idioms are fixed expressions whose meanings cannot always be guessed from the individual words. They are widely used in literature, films, and everyday speech. Knowing idioms improves listening and reading comprehension and allows you to sound more natural when you speak or write. The expression to bite the dust has a specific figurative meaning in modern English which you must recognise among similar sounding but incorrect options.

Given Data / Assumptions:

The idiomatic expression given is to bite the dust.
The options are To be killed, To fall down, To be dirt poor, and To get dirty.
The question asks for the meaning that best captures the figurative sense of the idiom, not the literal action.

Concept / Approach:
To bite the dust is historically connected with images of people in battle falling onto the ground face first. Over time, the phrase developed a figurative meaning. In many contexts, especially in stories or reports of fights and wars, it means to die or to be completely defeated. For example, Many soldiers bit the dust in the fierce battle clearly refers to soldiers who were killed. While falling and dust are involved in the image, the established idiomatic meaning goes beyond a simple fall or getting dirty and refers to final defeat, often death.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall common uses of the idiom in films, books, or conversations, such as another villain bites the dust. Step 2: Understand that in these contexts, the expression refers to a character who is eliminated, defeated, or killed rather than someone who simply trips. Step 3: Compare this understanding with option A To be killed, which exactly matches the strong and final nature of the defeat suggested by the idiom. Step 4: Compare with option B To fall down, which is too mild and can be temporary, thus failing to capture the finality of the idiom. Step 5: Recognise that options C and D relate only to poverty or physical dirt and not to defeat or death, so they do not fit the established meaning.

Verification / Alternative check:
Consider a sample sentence such as Many companies have bitten the dust during the economic slowdown. Here, the phrase clearly does not mean that the companies have become dirty or merely slipped. It means they have closed down completely or have failed. In action movies, when a character says Another one bites the dust after an enemy is shot, the meaning is clearly that the enemy has been killed. These examples confirm that the idiom expresses final defeat or death, so the option closest in sense is To be killed.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B To fall down refers only to a physical act of losing balance and can be temporary, so it is weaker than the idiom which usually implies permanent defeat. Option C To be dirt poor describes a financial condition of extreme poverty and has no connection with the idea of defeat or death. Option D To get dirty only suggests physical contact with dust or mud and is a literal interpretation of dust that ignores the idiomatic meaning.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to interpret idioms literally, especially when the words create a vivid physical picture. Learners may focus on dust and imagine falling in the dirt rather than recalling common idiomatic use in media. Another pitfall is to confuse this idiom with others related to poverty because of the word dust. Building a personal vocabulary notebook for idioms and regularly revising them with example sentences can help avoid guessing based on literal meanings and instead rely on how native speakers actually use the expression.

Final Answer:
To be killed