silver bullet

noun

|Updated on: 24 Jul 2018

Definition of silver bullet

: something that acts as a magical weapon; especially : one that instantly solves a long-standing problem

See silver bullet defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of silver bullet from the Web

There may not be a silver bullet for every traveler—but there are platinum cards.

— ryan craggs, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Best Travel Credit Card," 2 July 2018
To state the bottom line clearly: The ability to pull carbon out of the air is not a silver bullet.

— david roberts, Vox, "Sucking carbon out of the air won’t solve climate change," 14 June 2018
Natural gas isn't going to be a silver bullet for fixing the air quality problem.

— annie zak, Anchorage Daily News, "Fairbanks natural gas deal, meant to curb energy costs and air pollution, set to close," 12 June 2018
Even these agent defeat weapons are not a silver bullet for destroying chemical weapons.

— david hambling, Popular Mechanics, "These Are Syria's Chemical Weapons. Here's How To Destroy Them," 13 Apr. 2018
For my mother, in the 1970s, that silver bullet was sealed in a package of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix.

— alex van buren, Health.com, "This Healthy, 5-Minute Dressing Can Rescue Almost Any Leftovers in Your Fridge," 22 May 2018
For Componere events, the silver bullet is a bustling command post.

— leilani marie labong, San Francisco Chronicle, "Start a tradition with a Bodega beach clambake," 11 May 2018
Sometimes called the silver bullet or the silver Twinkie, Airstream trailers are immediately recognizable thanks to their trademark aluminum exterior.

— megan barber, Curbed, "Restored vintage Airstream is 140 square feet of mobile bliss," 7 May 2018
But while the original Airstream silver bullet retailed for $1,200 back in 1936, Nest starts around $46,000.

— katie jackson, Fox News, "Airstream's Nest is a first: The company's new model swaps aluminum for fiberglass," 20 Apr. 2018

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