bullet point meaning: definition, quotations

bullet point

nounalso spelled bullet-point

The symbol, typically a solid circle, that marks each item in a bulleted list.

Bullet points don't have to be just round dots—you can use any small symbol to start off your line. Hyphens are popular, as are check marks and arrows.1996, Marcia Layton, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Terrific Business Writing, page 110:
She had a list in front of her, written out in the neatest handwriting I had ever seen[…]Each item was prefaced by a perfectly round bullet point.2021, Zoe Cannon, chapter 30, in Hound of Hades Books 1-4: An Urban Fantasy Thriller Box Set:

An item in a bulleted list.

Bullet points should be short phrases that are parallel.2007, Mary Ellen Guffey, Patricia Rogin, Kathleen Rhodes, Business Communication: Process and Product, page 374:
As she speaks, a network-designed PowerPoint is projected on a screen[…]The first bullet point says, “We love and support your kids like they are our own!” The next says, “Our school design is everything—it's all or nothing. Nothing is optional!”2019, Robert Pondiscio, How The Other Half Learns: Equality, Excellence, and the Battle Over School Choice, page 262:

Usually A succinct statement of the kind that might appear in a bulleted list.

Panic is immune to debate, to analysis, to earnest and cognitively therapeutic bullet points.2009, Michael Marshall, Bad Things, →ISBN, page 29:
Go through your employment history and pull out all the bullet points that demonstrate the five skills you have prioritized.2011, Julie Gray, Write an Irresistible CV, →ISBN:

verb

To describe in a set of bullet points.

Concept mapping, mind mapping and cognitive mapping are useful means of breaking with the linearity of scribing what has been said or ‘bullet-pointing’ a discussion.2000, Ann Taket, Leroy White, Partnership and Participation: Decision-making in the Multiagency Setting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, →ISBN, page 131:
EA and Origin publicly unveiled UO2 in September 1999, bullet-pointing a sexy 3D engine, a fantasy-meets-steampunk setting, a reduced PVP focus, and dorktastic creature designs by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane.2008 February, Ryan Scott, “Ultimate Online 2”, in Games for Windows: The Official Magazine, number 15, page 35:

4 more examples

They glee in bullet-pointing a mere few how-to’s, delicately masking any and all complexities; carefully dismissing the difficulties involved.2016, Wynston Alexander Wilson, Antidotes for Adversity: 21 Effective Ways to Get Through Life’s Toughest Challenges, Createspace, →ISBN, pages 48–49:
Before my first elementary school dance, I vaguely remember my dad bullet pointing a list of body language a girl exhibits when she likes you.2015, John Forelli, One Woman Two Towers, →ISBN, page 48:
Bullet-point the skills you offer, making them easy for people to read.2021 September 5, CareerBuilder, “Resume skills guaranteed to get you noticed”, in The Modesto Bee, volume 144, number 248, section “The best way to present your skills on your resume”, page 5C, columns 5–6:
The Canadian Broadcasting Company bullet-points the puzzling period, writing, “On Nov. 30, 2018, 30-year-old Cotten travelled to India to open an orphanage and celebrate his honeymoon. Nine days later, he was allegedly dead due to Crohn’s disease, and $215 million in cash and cryptocurrency were suddenly missing.”2021 December 18, Rachel Jones, “Feature story: A ‘Home Town’ elf: Ben Napier crafts holiday spirit in the ‘Workshop’”, in Richmond Times-Dispatch, 171st year, number 352, page G39, column 4: