dodge a bullet

US/dɔd͡ʒ ə ˈbʊl.ɪt/

verb

To have a narrow escape; to avoid injury, disaster, or some other undesirable situation.

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Meanings

verbdodge a bullet (third-person singular simple present dodges a bullet, present participle dodging a bullet, simple past and past participle dodged a bullet)

present singular third person dodges a bullet · participle present dodging a bullet · participle past dodged a bullet · past dodged a bullet

  1. idiomaticinformalTo have a narrow escape; to avoid injury, disaster, or some other undesirable situation.

    By finding and fixing my aneurysm before it ruptured, I had miraculously dodged a bullet.

    2013 October 4, Tony Nitti, “Switching Gears”, in Forbes, retrieved 06 Mar 2014
    2 more examples

    "We have all these thousands of bill payers trying to dodge a bullet, trying to shift costs and pay less."

    1989 December 7, Milt Freudenheim, “Scramble on Health-Care Costs”, in New York Times, retrieved 06 Mar 2014

    Haiti dodged a bullet when Tropical Storm Tomas, once a hurricane, did minimal damage to the country's earthquake-ravaged capital of Port-au-Prince.

    2010 November 8, Jessica Desvarieux, “A Storm Averted, Haiti's Cholera Threat Grows”, in Time, retrieved 06 Mar 2014

Translations

Catalan escapar-se d'una bona
  • escapar-se d'una bonahave a narrow escape
Chinese Mandarin 逃過一劫 /逃过一劫
  • 逃過一劫 /逃过一劫 (táoguòyījié)have a narrow escape
Finnish selvitä säikähdyksellä, väistää luoti
  • selvitä säikähdyksellähave a narrow escape
  • väistää luotihave a narrow escape
French l’échapper belle
  • l’échapper bellehave a narrow escape
German gerade nochmal davonkommen
  • gerade nochmal davonkommenhave a narrow escape
Portuguese sair de uma furada, escapar de uma fria
  • sair de uma furadahave a narrow escape
  • escapar de uma friahave a narrow escape
Spanish librarse de una buena
  • librarse de una buenahave a narrow escape
Swedish komma billigt undan
  • komma billigt undanhave a narrow escape
Cite this entry
APA

dodge a bullet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dodge%20a%20bullet

MLA

“dodge a bullet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dodge%20a%20bullet. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dodge a bullet,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dodge%20a%20bullet.

Source: dodge a bullet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.