BULLET

fastball, heater, smoke, hummer, bullet

(noun) (baseball) a pitch thrown with maximum velocity; “he swung late on the fastball”; “he showed batters nothing but smoke”

bullet, slug

(noun) a projectile that is fired from a gun

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

bullet (plural bullets)

A projectile, usually of metal, shot from a gun at high speed.

(informal) An entire round of unfired ammunition for a firearm, including the projectile, the cartridge casing, the propellant charge, etc.

Ammunition for a sling or slingshot which has been manufactured for such use.

(typography) A printed symbol in the form of a solid circle, (•), often used in lieu of numbers for marking items in a list. (see also bulleted)

(banking, finance) A large scheduled repayment of the principal of a loan; a balloon payment.

A rejection letter, as for employment, admission to a school or a competition.

(slang) One year of prison time

(slang) An ace (the playing card).

(figuratively) Anything that is projected extremely fast.

(in attributive use) Very fast (speedy).

(fishing) A plumb or sinker.

(Ireland, particularly in Northern Ireland) The heavy projectile thrown in a game of road bowling.

(Australia) A roughly bullet-shaped sweet consisting of a cylinder of liquorice covered in chocolate.

(obsolete) A small ball.

(obsolete) A cannonball.

(obsolete) The fetlock of a horse.

Synonyms

• (projectile shot from a gun): cap (slang), pill (slang), slug (slang)

• (symbol “•”): bullet point

Hyponyms

(Hyponyms of bullet (noun, projectile)):

• blank bullet

• double-action bullet

• brass-tipped bullet

• rubber bullet

• rubber-tipped bullet

• silver bullet

Verb

bullet (third-person singular simple present bullets, present participle bulleting, simple past and past participle bulleted)

(transitive, informal) To draw attention to (text) by, or as if by, placing a graphic bullet in front of it.

(intransitive, informal) To speed, like a bullet.

(transitive, informal) To make a shot, especially with great speed.

Etymology 2

Noun

bullet (plural bullets) (rare)

A young or little bull; a male calf.

Coordinate terms

• cowlet, cowling

Source: Wiktionary


Bul"let, n. Etym: [F. boulet, dim. of boule ball. See Bull an edict, and cf. Boulet.]

1. A small ball.

2. A missile, usually of lead, and round or elongated in form, to be discharged from a rifle, musket, pistol, or other small firearm.

3. A cannon ball. [Obs.] A ship before Greenwich . . . shot off her ordnance, one piece being charged with a bullet of stone. Stow.

4. The fetlock of a horse.

Note: [See Illust. under Horse.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

2 April 2025

COVERT

(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”


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Coffee Trivia

The average annual yield from one coffee tree is the equivalent of 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of roasted coffee. It takes about 4,000 hand-picked green coffee beans to make a pound of coffee.

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