bite the biscuit

English

bite the biscuit (third-person singular simple present bites the biscuit, present participle biting the biscuit, simple past bit the biscuit, past participle bitten the biscuit)

(slang) To die.
- 1987 February 16, David Scanlan, “Way up north”, in Ottawa Citizen, retrieved 19 Aug. 2010, page D6:
  David Scott . . . admits he "nearly bit the biscuit," during a 1985 trip to Kluane National Park in the Yukon. Scott was crossing a chest-deep river with a racing current, when he slipped. The near-freezing water whisked him away.
- 2007, Jack Henderson, Circumference of Darkness‎^[1], →ISBN, page 199:
  Trained assassins shoot people in the head, and that should be a relatively painless way to bite the biscuit.
(idiomatic) To undertake an unpleasant task or to acknowledge an unfavorable situation or responsibility; bite the bullet.
- 1999, Robert Hartman, Masters of the Millennium‎^[2], →ISBN, page 5:
  Weibe, who fought the effects of allergy medicine and a winless streak since the Hardee's Golf Classic (1986), had to bite the biscuit and settle for second place.
- 2003, Steve Duno, Every Dog's Survival Guide to Living with a Neurotic Owner‎^[3], →ISBN, page 225:
  Sometimes owners need to bite the biscuit and call in professional help in order to solve a nasty canine behavioral problem.

(die): See Thesaurus:die
(undertake an unpleasant task or acknowledge an unfavorable situation): face up to