bites the bullet
Faces the pain
To bite the bullet is to accept something painful or difficult with resolve, forcing yourself through an unpleasant but necessary experience: I finally bit the bullet and scheduled the surgery.
The phrase suggests steeling oneself against anticipated hardship rather than avoiding it.
- endureSuffer through without yielding
- confrontFace squarely, address directly
- faceHead's anterior surface
- face the factsAccept unpleasant truths
- acceptConsent to receive
swallow one's pride · commit · take the plunge · pull the trigger · do or die · decide · dare · face the music · overcome · steel oneself · man up · soldier on · grin and bear it · take responsibility · moment of truth · resolve · persevere · battlefield medicine
bites the bulletkicks the can down the road
Delays action on something
buries one's head in the sand · avoids · evades · dodges · shirks
bites the bulletdrags one's feet
Delays through deliberate slowness
hesitates · wavers · vacillates · dithers · equivocates
bite, bites, bitten, biting, biter, bullet, bullets, bulleted, bulletin