What does bullet mean?
A bullet is a small metal projectile, typically made of lead or jacketed lead, that is fired from a gun or rifle. The word also has an everyday typographical meaning: the round dot (•) placed at the start of each line in a bulleted list, a convention so common that most word processors offer dedicated bullet formatting. In its literal sense, bullet belongs to the vocabulary of firearms, ballistics, crime reporting, and military affairs, and it appears in many established idioms — to 'bite the bullet' is to face something unpleasant with courage, a 'silver bullet' is a deceptively simple cure-all, and to have 'dodged a bullet' is to have narrowly escaped harm or misfortune. Derived forms such as 'bulletproof' (both literal armor-plating and figurative invulnerability) show how deeply the word has penetrated ordinary English. Compact, concrete, and vivid, bullet is a useful word precisely because it spans both violent reality and mundane document formatting without ambiguity in context.
A small metal projectile fired from a gun; also, the typographical symbol • used to mark items in a list.
"The surgeon removed the bullet from the soldier's shoulder."
When referring to ammunition, 'bullet' technically denotes only the projectile itself; the complete unit of cartridge case, propellant, primer, and bullet is properly called a 'round' or 'cartridge,' though casual usage often conflates them.
To hit someone with a bullet; also, informal North American usage meaning to move very fast, as in 'the car bulleted down the highway.'
"The courier bulleted through traffic to make the deadline."
Verbal uses are considerably less common than the noun.
Regular plural; used both for multiple projectiles and for multiple typographical markers in a list.
"She summarized the plan in five concise bullets."
The word 'bullet' comes from French boulette, meaning 'little ball' — because early musket ammunition really was just that: small lead balls.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bullet
Bullet entered English in the early 17th century from French boulette, a diminutive of boule meaning 'ball,' which itself derives from Latin bulla, a bubble or rounded object. The name reflects the fact that the earliest bullets were literally small spherical lead balls fired from muskets. The same Latin root gives English other round-related words, including bowl and the papal bull, and the French boule survives as a term for a ball-shaped loaf of bread and the game of pétanque played with steel balls.
Related word forms
How bullet is actually used
Bullet is neutral in register but carries strong connotations of violence in its projectile sense; in computing and typography it is entirely benign. The figurative idiom 'bite the bullet' means to endure a painful situation bravely, while 'a silver bullet' means a simple fix for a difficult problem — usually in negative constructions like 'there is no silver bullet.'
Easily confused with bullet
A ballot is a slip of paper or system used for voting, while a bullet is a projectile fired from a firearm.
A bulletin is a brief official news report or announcement, whereas a bullet is either a projectile or a typographical dot.