bite the bullet

1. To adjust to unpleasant circumstances: “The severe drought is forcing everybody to bite the bullet and use less water.” Before anesthesia, people undergoing surgery would bite on a bullet to help them withstand the pain.

Idioms and Phrases

Behave bravely or stoically when facing pain or a difficult situation, as in If they want to cut the budget deficit, they are going to have to bite the bullet and find new sources of revenue. This phrase is of military origin, but the precise allusion is uncertain. Some say it referred to the treatment of a wounded soldier without anesthesia, so that he would be asked to bite on a lead bullet during treatment. Also, Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1796) holds that grenadiers being disciplined with the cat-o'nine-tails would bite on a bullet to avoid crying out in pain.

Example Sentences

Although many importers are canceling orders or sending goods back to China before they’re unloaded, others are electing to bite the bullet and pay to bring their orders ashore because they don’t want to strain their hard-won relationships with huge national retailers by not giving them the goods they promised or trying to raise their wholesale prices, Reume said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“But with a strong enough discount, people may bite the bullet and get one.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He says he had been "putting theatre off for a really long time" but decided to bite the bullet as he wanted to push himself - and push himself he did as it's no easy feat to stand on an almost empty stage for 90 minutes and perform a monologue.

Read more on BBC

He said he and his wife Carol would have to "bite the bullet" when it came to their finances.

Read more on BBC

"There was just something about this year where I thought if I didn't apply I would probably just sit and watch it and regret that I didn't. I just thought 'bite the bullet... what's the worst that could happen?'."

Read more on BBC