bullet

[ bool-it ]
See synonyms for: bulletbulletedbulletingbullets on Thesaurus.com

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

  2. a cartridge.

  1. a small ball.

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

  3. Cards. an ace.

verb (used without object),bul·let·ed, bul·let·ing.
  1. to move swiftly.

Idioms about bullet

  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.

Origin of bullet

1
1550–60; <Middle French boullette, equivalent to boulle ball (see bowl2) + -ette-ette

Other words from bullet

  • bul·let·less, adjective
  • bul·let·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bullet in a sentence

  • Quite a good lot of bullets were plopping into the water, so the Commodore ordered the Colne to lie further out.

  • None of the bullets harmed horse or man, and the sowars were not quite near enough to be in the line of fire.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • A huge string game-bag was slung over his back, and in an antelope's horn or a crane's bill bullets were carried.

    Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. Pike
  • Even bullets will fly off from any other part of the scaly covering as though they had struck against a stone wall.

  • Five horses were shot under him, his clothes were riddled with bullets, but he was reserved for a sinister fate.

    Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison

British Dictionary definitions for bullet

bullet

/ (ˈbʊlɪt) /


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

    • the entire cartridge

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

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

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

  3. commerce

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

    • (as modifier): a bullet loan

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

  5. printing See centred dot

  6. bite the bullet See bite (def. 14)

Origin of bullet

1
C16: from French boulette, diminutive of boule ball; see bowl ²

Derived forms of bullet

  • bullet-like, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with bullet

bullet

see bite the bullet; sweat bullets.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.