bullet

American  

[bool-it] / ˈbʊl ɪt /

noun

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.

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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

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bullet More Idioms  

1. see bite the bullet; sweat bullets.

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Other Word Forms

• bullet-like
  adjective
• bulletless
  adjective
• bulletlike
  adjective

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

The document is clever, beginning each bullet point with the name of the good or service the plan is going to make “cheaper”: gasoline, utilities, prescription drugs, groceries, housing, childcare.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

The bullet points highlight Steyer’s hedge fund’s investments in fossil fuel, tobacco, private prisons and casinos.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

But reducing extreme ideas to their brutal implementation ignores all the events that precede the bullet.

From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026

But Roosevelt was running to reclaim the White House as a third-party candidate when he was shot—and, famously, proceeded to deliver a speech with the bullet still lodged in his chest—in 1912.

From Slate • Apr. 26, 2026

He picked one up, looked at it like he was looking at a single bullet.

From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds

Related Words

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