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bullet

bulletnoun

American /ˈbʊl.ɪt/ British /ˈbʊl.ɪt/ The u sounds like the u in put, not the u in but: BUL-it.

plural bullets

from a guna small piece of metal that comes out of a gun when it is fired
countable [C]
- The bullet missed him by a few inches.
- Police found three bullets near the car.
- There was a bullet hole in the window.
Collocations
verb + noun fire a bullet, be hit by a bullet
noun + noun bullet hole, bullet wound
adjective + noun a stray bullet, a rubber bullet
in a lista small round mark or other sign at the start of each item in a list
Bullet point is also used for the item itself: three bullet points.
countable [C]
- Put each idea on a new line with a bullet in front of it.
- The slides use bullets to make the list easier to read.
Collocations
noun + noun bullet point, bullet list

Phrases

bite the bullet informal

finally decide to do something unpleasant that has to be done

I hated the idea, but in the end I bit the bullet and called the bank.
We'll have to bite the bullet and pay for a new roof.

dodge a bullet informal

just manage to escape something bad that nearly happened to you

The company I almost joined closed a month later, so I really dodged a bullet.
We dodged a bullet when the storm turned away from the coast.

silver bullet

a simple answer that will quickly solve a difficult problem

Usually used with a negative, to say that no such answer exists.

There is no silver bullet for losing weight.
The new software is useful, but it isn't a silver bullet.

Word family

bulletproof