magic bullet

noun

Definition of magic bullet

1 : a substance or therapy capable of destroying pathogens (such as bacteria or cancer cells) or providing an effective remedy for a disease or condition without deleterious side effects

2 : something providing an effective solution to a difficult or previously unsolvable problem a magic bullet to stem voter apathy

Examples of magic bullet in a Sentence

There is no magic bullet to fix our educational system.

Recent Examples on the Web

But Carol getting her own movie first will allow fans to get to know the character — her strengths, weaknesses, and spirit — beyond being the magic bullet to defeat Thanos. — Alex Abad-santos, Vox, "Captain Marvel and the future of the Avengers, explained," 18 Sep. 2018 Research shows that no magic bullet will erase unconscious biases but there are steps to address and counter them. — Elizabeth Bernstein, WSJ, "Why We Stereotype Strangers," 29 Oct. 2018 There’s no magic bullet—or magic summit—that will resolve the North Korea situation. — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, "Donald Trump just pulled out of the North Korea summit.," 24 May 2018 Don’t bet on Atlantic City’s new casinos serving as the magic bullet to save the struggling Shore town, writes the Inquirer Editorial Board. — Oona Goodin-smith, Philly.com, "Philly police raid Occupy ICE camp, Atlantic City's culinary energy on the rise | Morning Newsletter," 6 July 2018 There is no magic bullet or one program that fits everyone. — Michelle C. Brooks, ajc, "Michael C. Melnyk, 46, of Marietta lost 70 pounds," 29 May 2018 Yet none of that worked, and one day the magic bullet for his problem popped in his head, Evans told CBC. — Josh Magness, miamiherald, "People at this restaurant are armed and ready to fend off seagulls — with water guns | Miami Herald," 25 May 2018 But artificial intelligence isn’t a magic bullet Artificial intelligence is getting good at hunting down terrorist content, nudity and spam. — Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, "Facebook is having trouble fighting hate speech," 15 May 2018 Chattanooga may be an outlier—high-speed internet is not a magic bullet for every struggling municipality. — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, "A Public Option for the Internet," 8 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'magic bullet.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

20 Jan 2019

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Time Traveler for magic bullet

The first known use of magic bullet was in 1940

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More Definitions for magic bullet

magic bullet

noun

English Language Learners Definition of magic bullet

: a drug or treatment that cures a disease quickly and easily without producing bad effects

: something that solves a difficult problem easily

See the full definition for magic bullet in the English Language Learners Dictionary

magic bullet

noun

mag·ic bul·let | \ ˈmaj-ik-ˈbu̇l-ət

Medical Definition of magic bullet

: a substance or therapy capable of destroying pathogenic agents (as bacteria or cancer cells) or providing a remedy for a disease or condition without deleterious side effects