bullet

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Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbʊl.ɪt/

Noun

bullet (plural bullets)

1. A projectile, usually of metal, shot from a gun at high speed.
2. (informal) An entire round of unfired ammunition for a firearm, including the projectile, the cartridge casing, the propellant charge, etc.
3. Ammunition for a sling or slingshot which has been manufactured for such use.
4. (typography) A printed symbol in the form of a solid circle, (•), often used in lieu of numbers for marking items in a list. (see also bulleted)
5. (banking, finance) A large scheduled repayment of the principal of a loan; a balloon payment.
6. A rejection letter, as for employment, admission to a school or a competition.

   John's not going to any of his top schools; he got a bullet from the last of them yesterday.

7. (slang) One year of prison time
8. (slang) An ace (the playing card).
   • 1969, Robert L. Vann, The Competitor (volumes 2-3, page 135)

     The miser, a-seeking lost gelt, / The doughboy, awaiting the battle, / May possibly know how I felt / While the long years dragged by as the dealer / As slow as the slowest of dubs, / Stuck out the last helping of tickets / 'Till I lifted—the Bullet of Clubs!

9. (figuratively) Anything that is projected extremely fast.
10. (in attributive use) Very fast speedy.

    bullet train

    bullet chess

11. (fishing) A plumb or sinker.
12. (Ireland, particularly in Northern Ireland) The heavy projectile thrown in a game of road bowling.
13. (Australia) A roughly bullet-shaped sweet consisting of a cylinder of liquorice covered in chocolate.
14. (obsolete) A small ball.
    • 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:

      Would you not suppose these persons had been whispered, by the Master of the Ceremonies, the promise of some momentous destiny? and that this lukewarm bullet on which they play their farces was the bull's-eye and centrepoint of all the universe?

15. (obsolete) A cannonball.

    • A ship before Greenwich […] shot off her ordnance, one piece being charged with a bullet of stone.

16. (obsolete) The fetlock of a horse.

Synonyms

• (projectile shot from a gun) cap (slang), pill (slang), slug (slang)

Related terms

• bite the bullet
• bullet catch
• bullet hole
• bullet list
• bullet point
• bullet time
• bullet with someone's name on it
• dodge a bullet

Translations

• French: balle, projectile
• German: Kugel, Ball, Projektil, Flugkörper
• Italian: proiettile
• Portuguese: bala, projéctil
• Russian: пу́ля
• Spanish: bala, proyectil

Translations

• French: puce
• German: Aufzählungszeichen
• Russian: ма́ркер список

Translations

• Russian: патро́н

Verb

bullet (bullets, present participle bulleting; past and past participle bulleted)

1. (transitive, informal) To draw attention to (text) by, or as if by, placing a graphic bullet in front of it.
2. (intransitive, informal) To speed, like a bullet.

   Their debut started slow, but bulleted to number six in its fourth week.

3. (transitive, informal) To make a shot, especially with great speed.

   He bulleted a header for his first score of the season.

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