I. ˈbəst noun
( -s )
Etymology: French buste, from Italian busto, from Latin bustum tomb, crematory, probably short for ambustum, neuter of ambustus, past participle of Latin amburere to burn up, consume, from ambi- on both sides, around + urere to burn — more at ambi- , ember
1.
a. : a sculptured representation of the upper part of the human figure including the head and neck and usually part of the shoulders and breast
b. : a pictorial representation (as in a painting or on a coin) of this part of the human figure
2.
a. : the upper portion of the human torso between neck and waist ; especially : the breasts of a woman
b. : a measure around the female body marking the maximum projection of the breasts
a 36-inch bust
c. : the part of a woman's garment covering the bust
II. verb
( busted also bust ; busted also bust ; busting ; busts )
Etymology: alteration of burst
transitive verb
1. : hit , punch , slug
he and his instructor had an overpowering compulsion to bust each other in the snoot — H.H.Martin
2.
a. : to break open
going to bust you wide open — Erle Stanley Gardner
or break up
helped bust trusts — Newsweek
specifically : fracture
bust his arm trying — Helen Eustis
b. : to break financially
the game of cheaters, which has busted more men than blackjack — Arthur Mayse
c. : demote
busted them to the bottom of the seniority list — Time
specifically : to reduce in military grade or rank
he went over the hill and got busted — Mack Morriss
d.
(1) : tame
bust a horse
(2) : to throw (as a steer) by roping the legs
3. : to burst especially by too much or too sudden swelling or growth
this westernmost province … is beginning to bust its industrial britches — Wall Street Journal
intransitive verb
1. : to burst especially from too much or too sudden swelling or growth
laughing fit to bust
the book winds up with hell busting loose — Marshall Sprague
2. : to break down completely while making an all-out effort
engineers … busy making sure that the world shall be convenient if they bust doing it — E.B.White
3. : to fail financially : go broke
they threw their sudden money around and busted — Noel Houston
4.
a. : to fail to complete a straight or a flush in poker usually by one card
b. : to lose at cards by exceeding a limit (as the count of 21 in blackjack)
Synonyms: see break
III. noun
( -s )
1. slang : punch , sock
a good bust on the nose — J.T.Farrell
2.
a. : failure
we think he's going to be either a genius or a bust — Josephine Pinckney
b. : a very weak hand in cards
3.
a. : bender , binge , spree
he could get more action in El Paso or Juarez when he went on a bust — Ross Santee
b. : a drinking bout
a beer bust
4. : a reduction in military grade
5.
a. : a sudden break and sharp decline in business activity, prices, and employment
b. : a severe recession or a depression
boom and bust
IV. adjective
or bust·ed -tə̇d
Etymology: bust, alteration of busted; busted from past participle of bust (II)
: bankrupt , broke
her father, before he went bust , had owned a drygoods store — Saul Bellow
to play roulette side by side with a busted … duke — David Dodge
V. transitive verb
1. slang : arrest
2. slang : raid
•
- bust one's chops
VI. noun
1. slang : a police raid
2. slang : arrest 2b(1)
VII. adjective
or busted
: having failed or come to nothingness
a new friendship gone bust