bullet

Related to bullet: Bullet point

bite the bullet

To do or accept something unpleasant, often after a period of hesitation. The phrase is thought to have come from the military, perhaps because biting a bullet was a common practice for patients, due to a lack of anesthesia. I don't actually enjoy cleaning, but I bite the bullet and do it so that everything in my house isn't covered in a thick layer of dust. I know she's disappointed to have not gotten her dream job, but the sooner she bites the bullet and accepts it, the sooner she can move on.
See also: bite, bullet

bulletproof

1. adjective Resilient or impervious to bullets, as of fabric or other material. That bulletproof vest saved my life!
2. adjective Resistant to mishandling, abuse, damage, error, or malfunction. Don't worry about breaking the phone, these new models are bulletproof! We've developed a bulletproof computer program that even the most non-computer-savvy person will be able to use!
3. adjective Extremely well planned or thought out, such as to be impervious to criticism or failure. We have a bulletproof plan for tackling poverty in the neighborhood. My thesis proposal is absolutely bulletproof.
4. verb To make resilient or impervious to bullets, as of fabric or other material. After crime rates rose in the city, many stores began bulletproofing their windows and doors.
5. verb To make resistant to mishandling, abuse, damage, error, or malfunction. Don't worry about breaking the phone, these new models have been totally bulletproofed! We've bulletproofed our latest computer program so that even the most non-computer-savvy person will be able to use it!
6. verb To plan or think something out so well as to be impervious to criticism or failure. Make sure you bulletproof your plan before you submit it to the developers. I spent an extra two weeks totally bulletproofing my doctoral thesis.

bullet-stopper

slang A US Marine. Please, I'm no bullet-stopper—I was in the Air Force.

dodge a bullet

To narrowly avoid something or some situation that turns out to be undesirable, disastrous, dangerous, or otherwise harmful. A: "I heard that John has become a drug addict and is living out of his car. Didn't you two used to date?" B: "Yeah, but we broke up about five years ago. Looks like I dodged a bullet on that one." I really dodged the bullet when my exam was postponed to next week, as I hadn't studied for it at all!
See also: bullet, dodge

faster than a speeding bullet

Extremely fast. The phrase was most famously used to describe Superman in the theme song to Adventures of Superman. You're gonna have to run faster than a speeding bullet to beat this girl—she can maintain a pace that is basically superhuman.
See also: bullet, faster, speeding

get the bullet

To lose one's job. Primarily heard in UK. You're going to get the bullet if you keep coming into work late.
See also: bullet, get

magic bullet

1. A drug, treatment, or medical therapy that provides an immediate cure to an ailment, disease, or condition without negative side effects or consequences. Despite the amazing leaps in medical technology and knowledge, we're still quite a ways off from developing a magic bullet in cancer treatment. Beware any person or company trying to sell you a magic bullet for your health problems. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!
2. Something that provides an immediate and extremely effective solution to a given problem or difficulty, especially one that is normally very complex or hard to resolve. There's no magic bullet that will solve the homelessness crisis in this country.
See also: bullet, magic

number one with a bullet

1. Of a song, number-one on Billboard Magazine's charting system and still gaining in terms of sales or playtime on the radio. (The "bullet" in this phrase refers to an icon placed next to a song that makes rapid progress in the charts.) And now, number one with a bullet, here's the new hit single from Taylor Swift!
2. By extension, far better than anything/anyone else; having rapidly become the best, most authoritative, or most dominant among others in a certain group. The findings of this remarkable study truly mark Dr. Colvin as number one with a bullet in her field. The tech giant started of humbly, but it became number one with a bullet in the mid-'90s.
See also: bullet, number, one

silver bullet

Something that provides an immediate and extremely effective solution to a given problem or difficulty, especially one that is normally very complex or hard to resolve. The phrase is almost always used in a statement that such a solution does not exist. There's no silver bullet that will solve the homelessness crisis in this country. The way to make progress is through deliberate, logical discussions around the issue.
See also: bullet, silver

sweat blood

1. To work very intensely and diligently; to expend all of one's energy or effort doing something. We sweated blood for six months straight, but we finally got our product finished and on store shelves. My mother and father sweated blood to provide for me and all my siblings.
2. To suffer intense distress, anxiety, worry, or fear. My passport had expired just before the trip, so I was sweating blood as we went over the border into Canada. Some of these kids sweat blood every time we have to give them a test.
See also: blood, sweat

sweat bullets

To suffer intense distress, anxiety, worry, or fear. My passport had expired just before the trip, so I was sweating bullets as we went over the border into Canada. Some of these kids sweat bullets every time we have to give them a test.
See also: bullet, sweat

take a/the bullet (for someone)

1. Literally, to jump in front of and absorb the impact of a bullet from a gun being fired at someone else. It's one of the basic duties of bodyguards to take the bullet for their clients if someone tries to kill them.
2. By extension, to accept or put oneself in the way of some misfortune, difficulty, blame, or danger as a means of protecting someone else. I don't know why you always feel like you have to take the bullet for your bosses when they screw up. They never reward your loyalty in any way. I used to take a lot of bullets when I worked as a PR representative for the senator.
See also: bullet, take
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bite the bullet

Sl. to accept something difficult and try to live with it. You are just going to have to bite the bullet and make the best of it. Jim bit the bullet and accepted what he knew had to be.
See also: bite, bullet

sweat blood

 and sweat bullets
Fig. to be very anxious and tense. What a terrible test! I was really sweating blood at the last. Bob is such a bad driver. I sweat bullets every time I ride with him.
See also: blood, sweat
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

bite the bullet

Behave bravely or stoically when facing pain or a difficult situation, as in If they want to cut the budget deficit, they are going to have to bite the bullet and find new sources of revenue . This phrase is of military origin, but the precise allusion is uncertain. Some say it referred to the treatment of a wounded soldier without anesthesia, so that he would be asked to bite on a lead bullet during treatment. Also, Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1796) holds that grenadiers being disciplined with the cat-o'nine-tails would bite on a bullet to avoid crying out in pain.
See also: bite, bullet

sweat blood

1. Also, sweat one's guts out. Work diligently or strenuously, as in The men were sweating blood to finish the roof before the storm hit. The phrase using guts was first used about 1890, and that with blood shortly thereafter.
2. Suffer mental anguish, worry intensely, as in Waiting for the test results, I was sweating blood. This usage was first recorded in a work by D.H. Lawrence in 1924. Both usages are colloquial, and allude to the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44): "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
See also: blood, sweat

sweat bullets

Perspire profusely; also, suffer mental anguish. For example, We were sweating bullets, sitting in the sun through all those graduation speeches, or It was their first baby, and David was sweating bullets while Karen was in labor. The bullets in this expression allude to drops of perspiration the size of bullets. [Slang; mid-1900s]
See also: bullet, sweat
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

sweat blood

INFORMAL
If you sweat blood, you work very hard to achieve something. I've been sweating blood over this report. I sweat blood to write songs with tunes that you can remember.
See also: blood, sweat

bite the bullet

COMMON If you bite the bullet, you accept a difficult situation or force yourself to do something unpleasant. The same stressful event might make one person utterly miserable, while another will bite the bullet and make the best of it. If your internet connection isn't working, you'll probably have to bite the bullet and phone the technical support department. Note: During battles in the last century, wounded men were sometimes given a bullet to bite on while the doctor operated on them without any anaesthetic or painkillers.
See also: bite, bullet

get the bullet

BRITISH, INFORMAL, OLD-FASHIONED
If someone gets the bullet, they lose their job. The banks are still making money but they only have to have one bad year and everybody gets the bullet. Note: You can also say that someone is given the bullet. Pike was out of work for 2½ years after being given the bullet as the team's youth boss.
See also: bullet, get
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

bite the bullet

face up to doing something difficult or unpleasant; stoically avoid showing fear or distress.
This phrase dates from the days before anaesthetics, when wounded soldiers were given a bullet or similar solid object to clench between their teeth when undergoing surgery.
1998 Joyce Holms Bad Vibes Once he accepted it as inevitable he usually bit the bullet and did what was required of him with a good grace.
See also: bite, bullet

sweat blood

1 make an extraordinarily strenuous effort to do something. 2 be extremely anxious. informal
See also: blood, sweat

sweat bullets

be extremely anxious or nervous. North American informal
See also: bullet, sweat
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

bite the ˈbullet

(informal) realize that you cannot avoid something unpleasant, and so accept it: Getting your car repaired is often an expensive business, but all you can do is bite the bullet and pay up.This expression comes from the old custom of giving soldiers a bullet to bite on during medical operations, which had to be done without any drugs to stop the pain.
See also: bite, bullet

sweat ˈblood

(informal)
1 work very hard; make a very great effort: I sweated blood to get that essay finished on time.
2 be very worried or afraid: He sweats blood every time the telephone rings, in case it’s the police.
See also: blood, sweat
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

bite the bullet

tv. to accept something difficult and try to live with it. You are just going to have to bite the bullet and make the best of it.
See also: bite, bullet

bullets

n. nipples. Nice boobage. Nice bullets.
See also: bullet

bullet-stopper

n. a U.S. Marine. (From the Persian Gulf War.) About a dozen bullet-stoppers came into the bar and the army guys tried to start a fight.

faster than a speeding bullet

and FTASB
phr. & comp. abb. Very fast. (From the introduction to the old radio program, The Adventures of Superman. Superman was faster than a speeding bullet.) I’ll be there FTASB. I ordered it on Wednesday, and it was on my doorstep, faster than a speeding bullet, the next day.
See also: bullet, faster, speeding

silver bullet

and magic bullet
n. a specific, fail-safe solution to a problem. (From the notion that a bullet made of silver is required to shoot a werewolf.) I’m not suggesting that the committee has provided us with a silver bullet, only that their advice was timely and useful. I don’t know the answer. I don’t have a magic bullet!
See also: bullet, silver

magic bullet

verb
See silver bullet
See also: bullet, magic

sweat blood

tv. to work very hard at something; to endure distress in the process of accomplishing something. (see also piss blood.) And here I sweated blood to put you through college, and you treat me like a stranger.
See also: blood, sweat

sweat bullets

tv. to suffer about something; to be anxious or nervous about something; to sweat blood. The kid sat in the waiting room, sweating bullets while the surgeons worked on his brother.
See also: bullet, sweat
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

bite the bullet

Slang
To face a painful situation bravely and stoically.
See also: bite, bullet

sweat blood

Informal
1. To work diligently or strenuously.
2. To worry intensely.
See also: blood, sweat

sweat bullets

Slang
1. To sweat profusely.
2. To worry intensely.
See also: bullet, sweat
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

bite the bullet, to

To brace oneself against pain or a difficult experience. This expression is believed to come from the days when those wounded in battle had to be treated without anesthesia and were made to bite on a lead bullet to brace themselves against the pain of surgery. Certainly this was the meaning in Rudyard Kipling’s The Light That Failed (1891): “Bite on the bullet, old man, and don’t let them think you’re afraid.” However, some authorities suggest that the term comes from the practice of gunners biting off the end of a paper-tube cartridge in order to expose the powder to the spark. In times of anesthesia and more sophisticated weaponry, biting the bullet became entirely figurative, as when P. G. Wodehouse wrote, “Brace up and bite the bullet. I’m afraid I have bad news” (The Inimitable Jeeves, 1923).
See also: bite

magic bullet

A fail-safe solution to a problem. The term was coined by Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915), who won the 1908 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. He gave the name to a compound that selectively targeted a bacterium without affecting other organisms, specifically the agent causing syphilis. The name soon was transferred to other curative compounds, and later to other kinds of problem. For example, “The Federal Reserve has no magic bullet for dealing with high unemployment.”
See also: bullet, magic

silver bullet

A highly accurate projectile of death or destruction. Sir Walter Scott may have been the first to use the idea of a literal silver bullet in Lockhart (1808), “I have only hopes that he will be shot with a silver bullet.” The term caught on in the first half of the 1900s because the popular western hero of the radio program, The Lone Ranger, used a silver bullet. During the Korean War an antiaircraft shell that hit precisely on target was called “silver bullet.” By the late 1900s the term also was being used figuratively, as in, “We’re hoping our new software will be the silver bullet to put the company on the map.”
See also: bullet, silver
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer

bite the bullet

To bear up in an unpleasant or a difficult situation. In the days before anesthesia, a wounded soldier about to undergo surgery was given a bullet to clamp in his teeth and bear down on so he wouldn't bite off his tongue from the pain.
See also: bite, bullet
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • bite the bullet
  • bite the bullet, to
  • be (a bit) on the heavy side
  • expensive
  • be (a bit) on the expensive side
  • be (a bit) on the large side
  • accept (something) as gospel
  • accepted
  • gospel
  • come to a bad end
References in periodicals archive
The Bullet 350 features new paint schemes and a blacked-out theme.
Royal Enfield launches new version of Bullet 350 KS and Bullet 350 ES
The fourth and last major factor limiting precision with 90 grain bullets in the Valkyrie has to do with the enormous distance down into the powder column that the back of the bullet extends.
.224 Valkyrie: While my initial tests with 90 grain bullets had some problems, improved performance with this cartridge may befixable
The original 215-grain bullet for the .303 British--used a lot by Walter Bell because of ammo availability--has an SD of .317.
IS SECTIONAL DENSITY DEAD?
[twitter-tweet]Palestinian doctors take bullet from heart of Gaza child | RTNews24 Read more (https://t.co/jB14SkweXj) https://t.co/jB14SkweXj (https://t.co/SayAntYnia) pic.twitter.com/SayAntYnia
Palestinian Doctors Remove Bullet from Heart of Gaza Child
With that said, there are really only several types of bullet designs.
THE SHAPE OF THINGS
Lehigh's goal was an 18-inch penetration-depth range achieved by "progressive nose geometry." Those radial flutes force the hydraulic energy inward to build pressure, and Lehigh claims that the fluid transfer dynamics result in a permanent wound cavity twice the size of any expanding bullet.
HONEY BADGER DON'T CARE: NEW LOADS FROM BUCK HILLS SHOW NO FEAR
Starting a bullet by hand is often needed, but not so often if you 're using jacketed bullets.
Lee Loader Help
Subsequent CT angiogram of the chest demonstrated that the bullet originated in the right upper chest, traversed inferiorly into the thoracic cavity, and terminated dependently within the right atrium (Figure 1).
Inferior vena cava bullet retrieval
The sale features 30% off on select Rust Bullet rust inhibitors, rust removers, and concrete coatings this Black Friday.
Rust Bullet, LLC Announces 2018 Black Friday Sale
As much as I love handloading, I believe the average low-volume user of an older S&W or Colt revolver will do best with major-brand, non-+P factory ammo with either a full-weight roundnose lead bullet or, in the case of the .38 Special, 148-grain hollowbase wadcutters.
Safely Shooting Older Handguns: Shooting old handguns can be quite satisfying, but to fully enjoy them, you must make safe choices
Another bullet graze on the wooden fence indicated that the bullet was fired in a downward position inclining to the right.
NBI ballistics expert belies shootout in Kian slay
If you are fuzzy on what "good" performance is on the FBI Protocol, the FBI believes a bullet needs to penetrate a minimum 12 inches in ballistic gelatin in order to reach the vitals of a bad guy, no matter his orientation, but no more than 18 inches to prevent overpenetration and hit innocent bystanders.
BARRIER BLIND HANDGUN BULLETS: TESTING POTENTIAL CANDIDATES OF "THE NEXT BIG THING"
This has become the norm and Muthoni says she is lucky not to have been hit by a bullet over the last four decades.
In line of fire: In Nyaribo Village, Nyeri, residents duck bullets daily
Bullet embolization cases are rare and even rarer are its retrograde migration in the veins.
Retrograde bullet migration from inferior vena cava into right common iliac vein following gunshot: A case report
The bullet that hit the vehicle of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre's II close-in security could be a stray bullet, Justice Undersecretary Erickson Balmes said quoting a report from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Bullet that hit car of Aguirre's close-in security could be stray slug