| Idiom | (to) bite the bullet |
|---|---|
| Meaning | to make a difficult or painful decision; to take a difficult step origin: This idiom comes from the military. During the Civil War in the United States, doctors sometimes ran out of whiskey for killing the pain. A bullet would be put in the wounded soldier's mouth during surgery. He would "bite the bullet" to distract him from the pain and keep him quiet so the doctor could do his work in peace. |
| Example | When demand was down, U.S. automakers had to bite the bullet and cut jobs. |
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