verb phrase🎓 English idiom

bite the bullet

to endure something difficult

What it means

To force yourself to do or accept something difficult, painful, or unpleasant that you have been avoiding. It suggests bracing yourself and getting on with it.

Examples

  • I finally bit the bullet and booked the dental appointment.
  • We had to bite the bullet and tell him the bad news.
  • She bit the bullet, quit her safe job, and started her own business.
  • Eventually you just have to bite the bullet and apologise.

Where it comes from

Often said to come from soldiers biting on a bullet to endure pain during surgery before anaesthetics; the figurative phrase was popularised in the late 19th century, notably by Rudyard Kipling.

Related idioms

#face the music#take the bull by the horns#no pain, no gain#throw in the towel

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