bite the bullet
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
To force yourself to do something unpleasant or difficult that you have been putting off.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
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Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: To clench a bullet between your teeth.
How to use it
✓ Use it when
Describing a hard decision finally being faced.
Register: neutralConnotation: resoluteEra: 19th century – present
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The car kept breaking down, so we bit the bullet and bought a new one.
Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “bite the bullet” mean?
To force yourself to do something unpleasant or difficult that you have been putting off. Literally: To clench a bullet between your teeth.
Is “bite the bullet” formal or informal?
bite the bullet is generally neutral; connotation: resolute.