bullet

[boo l-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.
verb (used without object), bulleted, bulleting.
6.
to move swiftly.
Idioms
7.
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
1550-60; < Middle French boullette, equivalent to boulle ball (see bowl2) + -ette -ette
Related forms
bulletless, adjective
bulletlike, adjective
Examples from the web for bullet
  • Every day, the papers are full of victims, bodies lying out in grotesque poses with bullet wounds all about.
  • She should also have bullet points under relevant positions that highlight where and how she's used the skills.
  • Many of the bullet trains now brake at the first seismic tremor.
  • After examining the patient, the doctors concurred that it was not possible to remove the bullet.
  • He also revealed that some fragments of the bullet remained in her brain and could not be safely removed.
  • It sticks to one page, it uses bullet points and boldface type effectively, and is well spaced.
  • It features gold plated bullet-proof windows, tungsten and white gold gauges and bullet proof tires.
  • Nuclear power was once thought of as a silver bullet that would cure all pollution problems.
  • He died, apparently of bullet wounds to the head and abdomen, shortly before sunrise the next day.
  • Conservation of angular momentum with a bullet hitting a merry go round.
British Dictionary definitions for bullet

bullet

/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.
(Brit, slang) dismissal, sometimes without notice (esp in the phrases get or give the bullet)
7.
(printing) See centred dot
8.
bite the bullet, See bite (sense 14)
Derived Forms
bullet-like, adjective
Word Origin
C16: from French boulette, diminutive of boule ball; see bowl²
Word Origin and History for 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.

Slang definitions & phrases for bullet

bullet

noun
  1. An ace (1807+ Card games)
  2. Money; dollars (1900+ Underworld)
  3. A rivet (WWII aircraft workers)
  4. Anything thrown or hit so as to travel very fast, esp a baseball: He's throwing bullets out there (1940s+)
  5. A record rising very fast on the popularity charts (1970s+ Recording industry)
  6. A one-year prison sentence; boffo (1990s+ Police)
verb

: currently bulleting up the charts

Related Terms

bite the bullet


Idioms and Phrases with bullet

bullet

see:
Encyclopedia Article for bullet

an elongated metal projectile that is fired by a pistol, rifle, or machine gun. Bullets are measured by their calibre, which indicates the interior diameter, or bore, of a gun barrel. (See bore.

Learn more about bullet with a free trial on Britannica.com