ghost bullets

Noun

ghost bullet (plural ghost bullets)

1. A bullet that is shot by an unseen assailant or one that cannot be seen or heard when it is shot.
   • […] not see them— ghost-bullets flying.1966, Victor Jeremy Jerome, The Paper Bridge, page 118
2. A bullet that cannot be found or that is untraceable through ballistic testing.
   • Let us assume that this 'ghost bullet' idea is correct. Let us write an equation which relates the distance the ordinary bullet travels with the direction of the recoil of the gun and the amount of recoil, assuming that a ghost bullet does travel off at some strange angle each time.1964, Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, page 412
3. An imaginary bullet.
   • Since nightfall he's bracing himself for the hallucinations he knows are soon to come. Crickets offer their resonant chorus, but they don't drown out the sounds of ghost bullets whistling in the air.2011, Nicole Pickens, Fictitious Tales for the Children of God, page 40
4. A supernatural bullet that wounds or kills a person, especially one that is shot by a supernatural assailant.
   • People believe that a beast shoots "ghost bullets" when they ford a stream in Sihch'uan at any time except the winter months .1968, Wolfram Eberhard, The Local Cultures of South and East China, page 195
5. A bullet that can hurt a ghost or undead creature.
   • Hardy wondered what happened to you when you were hit with ghost bullets. Did they only kill ghosts, or could they work on the living, too?2010, Scott Nicholson, Drummer Boy: A Supernatural Thriller
6. (figuratively) Something nonphysical (such as words, actions, or memory) that causes physical or emotional damage.
   • He spoke of radiation as "ghost bullets.” These bullets were deadly if mishandled.2013, William M. Alley, Rosemarie Alley, Too Hot to Touch: The Problem of High-Level Nuclear Waste, page 126