bite the bullet
/ˌbaɪt ðə ˈbʊlɪt/INFORMAL · C1
Meaning
to make yourself do something unpleasant you have been avoiding
Examples
- 1I'd been avoiding the pile of bills for weeks, but on Sunday I bit the bullet and sorted them out.
- 2We'll have to bite the bullet and tell the landlord we're moving out.
- 3The boiler was ancient, so in January we bit the bullet and paid for a new one.
- 4Tom kept putting off the difficult phone call, but in the end he had to bite the bullet.
- 5Are you going to bite the bullet and ask your boss for a pay rise?
Grammar
Only bite changes: bites, biting, bit, bitten. and plus a verb often names the unpleasant task.
Similar in meaning
More idioms about decisions
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →stick to your gunsto refuse to change your decision when others disagreethe lesser of two evilsthe less bad of two bad optionsspoilt for choicehaving so many good options that it is hard to pickhave a change of heartto start to think or feel differently about a decisionerr on the side of cautionto choose the safer option to avoid any riskset in stonefixed and impossible to alter
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
Here you get a couple of questions. The app gives you 16 practice modes, native equivalents and spaced repetition that tells you when it’s time to refresh.
