die like a dog, to

To meet a miserable end. Actually, to lead a dog’s life is no better, a fact pointed out about the same time that “die like a dog” first surfaced in print. “He lyved like a lyon and dyed like a dogge,” wrote John Rastell (The Pastyme of People, 1529). In ancient Greek times dying like a dog was even worse because it signified being left unburied, a fate regarded with dread. See also A DOG’S LIFE.