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 a fixed interest security with a single maturity date 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
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
bul•let /ˈbʊlɪt/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Militarya small piece of metal fired from a gun:One bullet struck an innocent bystander.
- Idioms bite the bullet, to force oneself to perform a painful task, or to endure an unpleasant situation:bit the bullet and went in to see the boss, expecting to be fired.
bul•let
(bŏŏl′it),USA pronunciation n., v., -let•ed, -let•ing.
n.
v.i.
bul′let•less, adj.
bul′let•like′, adj.
n.
- Militarya small metal projectile, part of a cartridge, for firing from small arms. See diag. under cartridge.
- Militarya cartridge.
- a small ball.
- Printinga heavy dot for marking paragraphs or otherwise calling attention to or itemizing particular sections of text, esp. in display advertising.
- Games[Cards.]an ace.
- Idioms 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.
v.i.
- to move swiftly.
- Middle French boullette, equivalent. to boulle ball (see bowl2) + -ette -ette
- 1550–60
bul′let•like′, adj.
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