dodge a bullet

• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɔd͡ʒ ə ˈbʊl.ɪt/

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

1. (idiomatic, informal) To have a narrow escape; to avoid injury, disaster, or some other undesirable situation.
   • 1989 December 7, Milt Freudenheim, “Scramble on Health-Care Costs”, in New York Times, retrieved 6 March 2014:

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

   • 2010 November 8, Jessica Desvarieux, “A Storm Averted, Haiti's Cholera Threat Grows”, in Time, retrieved 6 March 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.

   • 2013 October 4, Tony Nitti, “Switching Gears”, in Forbes, retrieved 6 March 2014:

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