bullet

US /ˈbʊl.ɪt/ See IPA manual

Freq #1676

Meanings

1

noun
A small piece of metal that is fired from a gun

The bullet missed him by inches.
2

noun
Something that moves extremely fast

He scored with a bullet of a shot into the top corner.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms bullets

Derived forms antibulletbullet-headbullet-headedbullet-nosebullet-pointedbullet-proofbulletfestbulletholebulletinbulletizebulletlessbulletlike

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

stray bullet
a bullet that travels away from its intended target or path

Adjective + noun

Idioms (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English bullet (“an official tag or badge of registration or identification”), from Old French bullete, diminutive of boule (“ball”). Later influenced by Middle French boulette and French boulet.

bullet Middle English bullete Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# bullet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈbʊl.ɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 1676

## Meanings
1. A small piece of metal that is fired from a gun
2. Something that moves extremely fast

## Examples
- The bullet missed him by inches.
- He scored with a bullet of a shot into the top corner.

## Derived Forms
- antibullet
- bullet-head
- bullet-headed
- bullet-nose
- bullet-pointed
- bullet-proof
- bulletfest
- bullethole
- bulletin
- bulletize
- bulletless
- bulletlike

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bullet
- Root: bullete

## Etymology
From Middle English bullet (“an official tag or badge of registration or identification”), from Old French bullete, diminutive of boule (“ball”). Later influenced by Middle French boulette and French boulet.

## AI Etymology
Bullet comes from Middle English bullet (“an official tag or badge of registration or identification”), from Old French bullete, diminutive of boule (“ball”). Later influenced by Middle French boulette and French boulet.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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