Bite–the–bullet
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.
to move swiftly.
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.
noun
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
(Brit, slang) dismissal, sometimes without notice (esp in the phrases get or give the bullet)
(printing) See centred dot
bite the bullet, See bite (sense 14)
n.
An ace (1807+ Card games)
Money; dollars (1900+ Underworld)
A rivet (WWII aircraft workers)
Anything thrown or hit so as to travel very fast, esp a baseball: He’s throwing bullets out there (1940s+)
A record rising very fast on the popularity charts (1970s+ Recording industry)
A one-year prison sentence; boffo (1990s+ Police)
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:
bite the bullet
sweat bullets
Read Also:
- Bite--the--dust
earth or other matter in fine, dry particles. a cloud of finely powdered earth or other matter in the air. any finely powdered substance, as sawdust. the ground; the earth’s surface. the substance to which something, as the dead human body, is ultimately reduced by disintegration or decay; earthly remains. British. ashes, refuse, etc. junk1 […]
- Bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you
Show ingratitude, turn against a benefactor. For example, The college gave me a scholarship, so I shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds me and criticize its hiring policies. Used about 600 b.c. by the Greek poet Sappho, this metaphor of a dog biting its master was first recorded in English in 1711.
- Bitewing
a holder for x-ray film with a projecting fin that is held between the teeth so as to show the crowns of the upper and lower teeth in one picture.
- Bite--your--tongue
either of the two fleshy parts or folds forming the margins of the mouth and functioning in speech. Usually, lips. these parts as organs of speech: I heard it from his own lips. a projecting edge on a container or other hollow object: the lip of a pitcher. a liplike part or structure, especially of […]
- Bite--the
bite, the