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Meaning of "bite the bullet" in the English dictionary

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PRONUNCIATION OF BITE THE BULLET

bite the bullet play
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WHAT DOES BITE THE BULLET MEAN IN ENGLISH?

bite the bullet

Bite the bullet

To "bite the bullet" is to endure a painful or otherwise unpleasant situation that is seen as unavoidable. The phrase was first recorded by Rudyard Kipling in his 1891 novel The Light that Failed. It is often stated that it is derived historically from the practice of having a patient clench a bullet in his or her teeth as a way to cope with the extreme pain of a surgical procedure without anesthetic, though evidence for biting a bullet rather than a leather strap during surgery is sparse. It may also have evolved from the British empire expression "to bite the cartridge", which dates to the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In this version of the etymology, the idea of tolerating necessary hardship refers to the British wish that the sepoys would ignore any small presence of animal fat in their paper cartridges. In philosophy, a more specific meaning of the phrase is to accept unpleasant consequences of one's assumed beliefs. Sound reasoning requires its practitioner to always sustain a consistent set of beliefs. This may involve accepting a disturbing belief that is a consequence of one's currently held beliefs.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE BITE THE BULLET

bitchily
bitchin´
bitchiness
bitching
bitchy
bite
bite back
bite off more than one can chew
bite one´s lip
bite one´s nails
bite someone´s head off
bite the dust
bite the hand that feeds one
bite-size
bite-sized
biteable
biteplate
biter
bitesize
bitewing

WORDS THAT END LIKE BITE THE BULLET

ballet
billet
bullet
cullet
dumdum bullet
grey mullet
gullet
magic bullet
mullet
pallet
percussion bullet
plastic bullet
pullet
red mullet
rubber bullet
silver bullet
surmullet
tracer bullet
wallet
yellow-eye mullet

Synonyms and antonyms of bite the bullet in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «BITE THE BULLET»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «bite the bullet» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of bite the bullet

Translation of «bite the bullet» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF BITE THE BULLET

Find out the translation of bite the bullet to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of bite the bullet from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «bite the bullet» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

忍辱负重
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

morder la bala
570 millions of speakers

English

bite the bullet
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

गोली काटने
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

لدغة الرصاصة
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

стиснуть зубы
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

morder a bala
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

বুলেট কামড়
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

serrer les dents
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

gigit peluru itu
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

den sauren Apfel beißen
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

ひるまない
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

총알을 물린
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Nyangkut peluru kasebut
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

cắn đạn
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

தோட்டாவை கடி
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

गोळी कापणे
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Mermi ısırmak
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

ingoiare il rospo
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

zacisnąć zęby
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

зціпити зуби
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

muște glonț
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

δαγκώσει τη σφαίρα
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

byt die bullet
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

bita ihop
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

bite i kule
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of bite the bullet

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «BITE THE BULLET»

The term «bite the bullet» is regularly used and occupies the 89.899 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Regularly used
58
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «bite the bullet» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of bite the bullet
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «bite the bullet».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «BITE THE BULLET» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «bite the bullet» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «bite the bullet» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about bite the bullet

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «BITE THE BULLET»

Discover the use of bite the bullet in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to bite the bullet and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Bite the bullet: thirty-four years with ITC
Without dustjacket.
Ajit Narai Haksar, 1993
2
Bite the Bullet: A Crimson Moon novel
Packed with suspense and heat, the second novel in L.A. Banks’s Crimson Moon series marks the return of a very special breed of werewolves… Sasha Trudeau considers herself a soldier first and a werewolf second.
L. A. Banks, 2008
3
Bite the Bullet
Bite the Bullet is the story of how Nora Summerfield is rescued from the swamps next to the Mississippi River and her perverted Uncle Gavin.
B. E. Roberts, 2006
4
Time to Bite the Bullet: Fixing Federal Law Enforcement Pay ...
LC Number: KF27 .G63 2004e OCLC Number: (GPO)apn2005-011814 Subject: Police -- Salaries, etc. -- United States. Excerpt: ... 11 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09: 18 Jun 01, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 D: DOCS 98745.
United States. Congress. House., 2012
5
Machine Guns: An Illustrated History of Their Impact
It was fragile, apt to break open and spill its contents with rough handling. It also presumed that the soldier had sufficient teeth to bite off the end of the cartridge prior to pouring it down the bore (note the source of the adage “bite the bullet”).
James H. Willbanks, 2004
6
Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction
If qualia - the qualitative dimension of conscious experiences - resist reduction, we are faced with a choice. Either we reject functionalism, or we bite the bullet and accept that conscious qualities are not, after all, essential to states of mind.
John Heil, 2004
7
Bert Combs the Politician: An Oral History
But when it's time to bite the bullet he can bite the bullet. I think he did in this instance something that he felt deeply was the law and should be the law of Kentucky — that the proper way to do it was to face it and not saddle it on somebody else ...
George William Robinson
8
Innovation and the Pharmaceutical Industry: Critical ...
Proponents of SRT accounts could just bite the bullet and satisfy the symmetry property by holding all successful companies morally responsible for saving lives , when they are able and when it takes little effort to do so. This currently is not the  ...
Hugo Tristram Engelhardt, Jeremy R. Garrett, 2008
9
Kant and Skepticism
After all, proponents of the principles in question might just bite the bullet in the face of the commonsense response and insist that the counterintuitive consequences flowing from them for such terms as “cause,” and hence for common sense ...
Michael N. Forster, 2010
10
Self-representational Approaches to Consciousness
When proponents of HOMT have taken this problem into account, they have responded by downplaying the causal efficacy of consciousness.51 But if the intention is to bite the bullet, downplaying the causal efficacy is insufficient; what is ...
Uriah Kriegel, Kenneth Williford, 2006

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «BITE THE BULLET»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term bite the bullet is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Dodgers Dugout: What would you do to improve the Dodgers?
So the Dodgers decided to bite the bullet and part ways with him. He is still owed the remainder of his $7.5 million this season. OK, now that ... «Los Angeles Times, Jul 15»
2
How to conquer your inbox
If this is you, then bite the bullet and turn off those email notifications. It might sound counterproductive, however, it will improve your overall ... «NEWS.com.au, Jul 15»
3
The Truth: My Momastery Moment With Glennon Doyle Melton
I just haven't had the chance to bite the bullet. So, I don't have meds but I do have Momastery, my go-to anti-anxiety blog. I own a bunch of ... «Huffington Post, Jul 15»
4
Greek 'No' vote won't shutter primary market
"Increasingly, more issuers are prepared to bite the bullet and will pay up if required," said Marcus Schulte, head of financial institutions debt ... «Economic Times, Jul 15»
5
What keeps me awake at night? The horror of prom for 11-year-olds
Or should I just bite the bullet and go ahead with it? I want the children to leave with values that may not be the same as the ones they ... «TES News, Jul 15»
6
Saturn Return Strikes Again!
Stop overthinking it all and just bite the bullet - Go for what you want and think about 'how' later. I've found the universe tends to throw things ... «Huffington Post, Jul 15»
7
Three generations of the Mullan family from Dungiven graduate in Irish
... impressed by the revival of the Irish language especially in our local town. "I couldn't use any more excuses, it was time to bite the bullet. «BBC News, Jul 15»
8
St Lucia not prepared to invest in regional airline
... says St Lucia is not prepared to invest in the cash-strapped regional airline, LIAT, and called on its shareholder governments to bite the bullet ... «Jamaica Observer, Jul 15»
9
Rules aren't made to be broken.....The way it is with Anthony Moyles
I decided to bite the bullet and called Spud. I asked him to meet me so I could explain my actions. We met a few days later and I began by trying ... «Meath Chronicle, Jul 15»
10
Impatient driver recklessly overtakes truck in Dublin… right into the …
And after much deliberation, the driver decided to bite the bullet and overtake the truck. car2. See ya! car3. But it was all ruined when the driver ... «Yahoo News UK, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Bite the bullet [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/bite-the-bullet>. Apr 2024 ».
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