bust 2 (bst)
v. bust·ed, bust·ing, busts
v.tr.
1. Slang
a. To smash or break, especially forcefully: "Mr. Luger worked it with a rake, busting up the big clods, making a flat brown table" (Garrison Keillor).
b. To render inoperable or unusable: busted the vending machine by putting in foreign coins.
2. To cause to come to an end; break up: an attempt to bust the union.
3. To break or tame (a horse).
4. To cause to become bankrupt or short of money: "Too often, the promise of a high-tech design leads to a weapon that busts the budget" (Business Week).
5. Slang To reduce in rank. See Synonyms at demote.
6. To hit; punch.
7. Slang
a. To place under arrest.
b. To make a police raid on.
v.intr.
1. Slang
a. To undergo breakage; become broken.
b. To burst; break: "Several companies have threatened to bust out of their high-wage contracts by the dubious technique of declaring bankruptcy" (Washington Post).
2. To become bankrupt or short of money.
3. Games To lose at blackjack by exceeding a score of 21.
n.
1. A failure; a flop: "The home-style bean curd is a bust, oily and rubbery" (Mark and Gail Barnett).
2. A state of bankruptcy.
3. A time or period of widespread financial depression: "Bankers consider the region's diversified economy to be good protection against a possible real estate bust" (American Banker).
4. A punch; a blow.
5. A spree: a fraternity beer bust.
6. Slang
a. An arrest.
b. A raid.
Idiom:
bust (one's) butt
To make a strenuous effort; work very hard.
[Variant of burst.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
bust1
n
1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Anatomy) the chest of a human being, esp a woman's bosom
2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Art Terms) a sculpture of the head, shoulders, and upper chest of a person
[from French buste, from Italian busto a sculpture, of unknown origin]