return to dust
Crumble into nothing
To return to dust is to die and decompose, alluding to the biblical phrase "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." The expression frames death as a return to basic elements: When we return to dust, nothing of our ambitions remains.
It can also describe physical decay or the collapse of something once vital: The empire returned to dust.
- rotOrganic breakdown process
- vanitasPainting of mortality symbols
- earthSoil or electrical grounding
- finitudeState of being bounded
- soilGround matter for planting
cessation · memento mori · demise · impermanence · putrefaction · decomposing matter · worm food · ash · elegy · crumble · entropy · requiem · funeral rite · disintegration · expiration · moldering · transience · grave
return to dustpreserve
Protect from loss
mummify · petrify · fossilize · endure · stand the test of time
return to dustcome into being
Begin to exist
spring to life · take shape · materialize · emerge · be born
return, returns, returned, returning, returnable, dust, dusts, dusted, dusting