eat someone's dust
Fall far behind
To eat someone's dust is to fall behind them, originally in a race or pursuit where the leader kicks up dust that followers must travel through.
The expression extends to any competitive situation where one person or group is clearly outpacing another: The startup left its competitors eating dust.
The related eat my dust is a taunt to those you're leaving behind.
- fall behindFail to maintain pace
- loseFail to keep
- accelerateIncrease in velocity
- burning rubberTires spinning, smoking, screeching
- pedal to the metalMaximum automotive acceleration
fast lane · overtake · lag · lose ground · trail · win · chase · pursue · beat · triumph · excel · overshadow · sprint · zoom · falter · playing catch up · dash · frontrunner
eat someone's dustleave someone in the dust
Dramatically outpace a competitor
blow past · outpace · outrun · pull ahead · take the lead
eat someone's dustdominate
Control through superior strength
trounce · wipe the floor with someone · outclass · outperform · surpass
eats, eaten, eating, eater, eaters, someone, dust, dusts, dusted