a painful, difficult
task to perform or an unpleasant
situation to endure. A variation of
bite the bullet, to
force oneself to perform a painful, difficult
task or endure an unpleasant
situation. This comes from the
fact that before anesthesia, surgeons
operating on the wounded gave them a bullet to
bite to
help them withstand the
pain.
—State of Man Congress Approved Gls (14.5.92)