bullet

American  

[bool-it] / ˈbʊl ɪt /

noun

bullets plural

1. a small metal projectile, part of a cartridge, for firing from small arms.

2. a cartridge.

3. a small ball.

4. Printing. a heavy dot for marking paragraphs or otherwise calling attention to or itemizing particular sections of text, especially in display advertising.

5. Cards. an ace.

---

verb (used without object)

bulleted, bulleting

1. to move swiftly.

idioms

1. bite the bullet, to force oneself to perform a painful, difficult task or to endure an unpleasant situation.

   We'll just have to bite the bullet and pay higher taxes.

bullet British  

/ ˈbʊlɪt /

noun

1. 1. a small metallic missile enclosed in a cartridge, used as the projectile of a gun, rifle, etc

   2. the entire cartridge

2. something resembling a bullet, esp in shape or effect

3. stock exchange a fixed interest security with a single maturity date

4. commerce a security that offers a fixed interest and matures on a fixed date

5. commerce

   1. the final repayment of a loan that repays the whole of the sum borrowed, as interim payments have been for interest only

   2. ( as modifier )

      a bullet loan

6. slang dismissal, sometimes without notice (esp in the phrases get or give the bullet )

7. printing See centred dot

8. See bite

---

bullet More Idioms  

1. see bite the bullet; sweat bullets.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• bullet-like
  adjective
• bulletless
  adjective
• bulletlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bullets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bullet

1550–60; < Middle French boullette, equivalent to boulle ball ( see bowl ²) + -ette -ette

Explanation

A bullet is the metal object that is fired out of a gun when its trigger is pulled. Without bullets, a gun is harmless. If someone talks about ammunition for a gun, they're talking about bullets. A bullet doesn't usually contain explosives but does its damage by penetrating whatever — or whomever — it hits. The Middle French source of bullet is boulette, "cannonball" or "small ball," from boule, "a ball," with its Latin root bulla, "round thing." To "bite the bullet" means to withstand an unpleasant but necessary situation, from the (possibly fictitious) practice of patients biting bullets during painful operations.

Example Sentences

Long-term investors should just bite the bullet and buy these.

From Barron's • Jun. 22, 2026

Family members say police officers suggested he may have been killed by a tear-gas canister rather than a bullet.

From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026

Investors may have dodged the most significant bullet on June 5, when Standard & Poor’s opted not to change its index-listing rules for any of its market indices.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

Passion, humor and a snarl of defiance run through the album like a bullet.

From Salon • Jun. 5, 2026

The men tested the metal detector on three former Civil War soldiers who each had a bullet in a known location of the body.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

Related Words

• ammunition
• ball
• cartridge
• pellet
• projectile
• rocket
• round
• shot
• slug