bust

== English == === Alternative forms === buss (verb sense 12) === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbʌst/ Rhymes: -ʌst Homophones: bussed, bused === Etymology 1 === From Middle English busten, a variant of bursten, bresten (“to burst”). Compare Low German basten, a variant of barsten (“to burst”). Cognate with burst and bost. ==== Verb ==== bust (third-person singular simple present busts, present participle busting, simple past and past participle busted or bust) (transitive, colloquial, chiefly US) To break. (transitive, slang) To arrest (someone or a group of people) for a crime. (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. (transitive) To debunk, dispel (a belief). (snowboarding) An emphatic synonym of do or get. (US, informal) To reduce in rank. 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. (finance, transitive) To undo a trade, generally an error trade, that has already been executed. (poker) To lose all of one's chips. (blackjack) To exceed a score of 21. (transitive, slang) To break in (an animal). (transitive, slang) To break in (a woman or girl), to deflower (intransitive, vulgar, slang) To ejaculate; to eject semen or to squirt. (journalism, intransitive) For a headline to exceed the amount of space reserved for it. (chess, slang) To refute an established opening. (slang, African-American Vernacular, transitive) To shoot (a gun). (slang, African-American Vernacular, intransitive) To attack, hit or insult (someone). (slang) To do or perform; to move quickly. ===== Synonyms ===== (to arrest for a crime): nick ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== bust (plural busts) (slang) The act of arresting someone for a crime, or raiding a suspected criminal operation. (slang) A police raid or takedown of a criminal enterprise. (slang) A failed enterprise; a bomb. (chess, slang) A refutation of an opening, or of a previously published analysis. (slang) A disappointment. (sports, derogatory) A player who fails to meet expectations. (economics) The downward portion of a boom and bust cycle; a recession. (slang, dated) A spree, unrestrained revel, or wild party. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Adjective ==== bust (not comparable) (slang) Without any money, broke, bankrupt. ===== Derived terms ===== bust up/bust-up busted (adjective) go bust === Etymology 2 === Borrowed from French buste, from Italian busto (“torso, upper body”), from Latin bustum (“funeral monument, tomb," originally "funeral pyre, place where corpses are burned”). Perhaps shortened from Latin ambustum, neuter of ambustus (“scorched”), past participle of ambūrō (“burn all over, scorch”), from ambi- (“around”) + ūrō (“to burn”). ==== Noun ==== bust (plural busts) A sculptural portrayal of a person's head and shoulders. A woman's breasts; the circumference of her chest measured around the breasts. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== bustier ===== Translations ===== === Anagrams === BTUs, but's, TBUs, buts, TUBS, tubs, stub == Catalan == === Etymology === Borrowed from Italian busto. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbust] === Noun === bust m (plural busts or bustos) bust (sculpture) bust (breasts and upper thorax) ==== Further reading ==== “bust”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007 == Dutch == === Pronunciation === === Verb === bust inflection of bussen: second/third-person singular present indicative (archaic) plural imperative == Romanian == === Etymology === Borrowed from French buste. === Noun === bust n (plural busturi) bust (sculpture) ==== Declension ====