To bite the bullet is to finally face something painful you have been avoiding. Bite the bullet and pay, time to bite the bullet, just bite the bullet.
It is about accepting the cost rather than about courage under fire, which is why it suits dentists and tax bills. The story behind it is soldiers biting a bullet during surgery without anaesthetic.
1phrasebite the bulletTo finally face something painful you have been avoiding.
“I hate going to the dentist, but I'll have to bite the bullet and book an appointment.”
bite the bullet is an enduring.
Probably from the practice of having a soldier bite a bullet during surgery to keep from crying out.
Possibly from the reported practice of soldiers biting a bullet to avoid crying out in pain, usually during a medical procedure or punishment. See the Wikipedia article Bite the bullet for a further discussion of possible etymologies.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Idioms