bullet
[boo l-it]
- a small metal projectile, part of a cartridge, for firing from small arms.
- a cartridge.
- a small ball.
- Printing. a heavy dot for marking paragraphs or otherwise calling attention to or itemizing particular sections of text, especially in display advertising.
- Cards. an ace.
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- to move swiftly.
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- 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.
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Origin of bullet
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
ballshotcartridgerocketslugprojectileammunitionpelletroundcapboltleaddoseammotrajectileExamples from the Web for bullets
Contemporary Examples
Coren said she never felt she was at risk of bodily harm, even as the bullets flew.
They unleashed a hail of bullets to rival the final scene in ‘Bonnie and Clyde.’
Police say Myers charged at the policeman, they wrestled, and then he shot at least three bullets before his gun jammed.
Then, without warning, they shot into the group, grazing two teenage boys with bullets.
Their captors wore palm leaves, leopard skins, and magical relics to make themselves immune to bullets.
Historical Examples
The bullets of the posse had neither torn a tendon nor broken a bone.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
The bullets of Allister and Clune might have gone home— they were intended to kill, not to wound.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
When Yates reached the tent, he found it empty and torn by bullets.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
Bullets were flying in all directions, and there was no question of shelter.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
The bullets of the enemy made "watery flashes" on all sides.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
bullet
- a small metallic missile enclosed in a cartridge, used as the projectile of a gun, rifle, etc
- the entire cartridge
- something resembling a bullet, esp in shape or effect
- stock exchange a fixed interest security with a single maturity date
- commerce a security that offers a fixed interest and matures on a fixed date
- 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
- British slang dismissal, sometimes without notice (esp in the phrases get or give the bullet)
- printing See centred dot
- bite the bullet See bite (def. 14)
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Word Origin
C16: from French boulette, diminutive of boule ball; see bowl ²
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
Word Origin and History for bullets
bullet
n.
1550s, from Middle French boulette "cannonball, small ball," diminutive of boule "a ball" (13c.), from Latin bulla "round thing, knob" (see bull (n.2)). Earliest version of bite the bullet recorded 1891, probably with a sense of giving someone a soft lead bullet to clench in the teeth during a painful operation.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with bullets
bullet
see bite the bullet; sweat bullets.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.