bust

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʌst/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ʌst
• Homophones: bussed, bused

From French buste < Italian busto, from Latin būstum.

bust (plural busts)

1. A sculptural portrayal of a person's head and shoulders.
2. The breasts and upper thorax of a woman.

• bust improver
• busty
• overbust
• underbust

From a variant of burst. Compare German Low German basten and barsten (“to burst”).

bust (third-person singular simple present busts, present participle busting, simple past and past participle busted)

1. (transitive, colloquial, chiefly US) To break.

   I busted my cooker while trying to fix it.

2. (transitive, slang) To arrest (someone) for a crime.
3. (transitive, slang) To catch (someone) in the act of doing something wrong, socially and morally inappropriate, or illegal, especially when being done in a sneaky or secretive state.
4. (snowboarding) An emphatic synonym of do or get.

   He busted huge air off that jump!

5. (US, informal) To reduce in rank.

   He busted him down to patrolman for insubordination.

   • 1962, The Manchurian Candidate, 01:56:35

     If Steinkamp doesn't take off that hat and stop messing around, I'm gonna bust him into a PFC.

6. (poker) To lose all of one's chips.
7. (blackjack) To exceed a score of 21.
8. (transitive, slang) To break in (an animal).
   • 1997, Charles Oswald, Gone with the Western Wind

     A few weeks later, Richard was killed accidentally while busting a wild mustang […]

9. (intransitive, slang) To ejaculate; to eject semen.

• (to arrest for a crime): nick

bust (plural busts)

1. (slang) The act of arresting someone for a crime, or raiding a suspected criminal operation.

   a narcotics bust

2. (slang) A failed enterprise; a bomb.
3. (sports, derogatory) A player who fails to meet expectations.
4. (chess, informal) A refutation of an opening, or of previously published analysis.

bust (not comparable)

1. (slang) Without any money, broke, bankrupt.

   After months of financial problems, the company finally went bust.

• bust up/bust-up
• busted (adjective)
• buster

• BTUs, but's, buts, stub, tubs

Borrowed from Latin būstum.

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈbust/

bust m (plural busts or bustos)

1. bust (sculpture)
2. bust (breasts and upper thorax)

• “bust” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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bust

1. second- and third-person singular present indicative of bussen
2. (archaic) plural imperative of bussen

bust n (plural busturi)

1. bust (sculpture)