bitten the bullet

Verb

bite the bullet (third-person singular simple present bites the bullet, present participle biting the bullet, simple past bit the bullet, past participle bitten the bullet)

1. (idiomatic) To accept a negative aspect of a situation in order to proceed.
   • The tenant was annoyed by the proposed rent increase, but the cost of moving would be even higher, so he bit the bullet and signed the new lease.
2. (rhetoric) To accept an undesirable or counterintuitive implication of an argument or view.
   • With respect to the status of infants and those suffering from dementia, the critic might bite the bullet and just accept the fact that human dignity does not extend to them, or else argue that the fact that infants and those suffering mental breakdown are part of a species whose members typically...2014 June 12, C. Stephen Evans, David Baggett, “Moral Arguments for the Existence of God”, in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, archived from the original on 20 Apr 2026