bust

noun

(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.

A sculptural portrayal of a person's head and shoulders.

A woman's breasts; the circumference of her chest measured around the breasts.

(slang, dated) A spree, unrestrained revel, or wild party.

verb

(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.

(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.

adjective

(slang) Without any money, broke, bankrupt.

Roots

bustumbust- · Latin · tomb, funeral monument (sculpted portrait of the deceased)

Synonyms for bust

burstn flopn bingen fizzlen breakv rupturen snapv boomn

Words related to bust

raidn bustiern brokeadj bonedadj

Synonyms & related words for bust

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of bust — including burst, flop, binge, fizzle, break, rupture. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to bust

Explore words related to bust — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include raid, bustier, broke, boned. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for bust

Common synonyms for bust include burst, flop, binge, fizzle, break, rupture, snap, boom — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does bust come from?

The word bust breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root bust, from Latin bustum (“tomb, funeral monument (sculpted portrait of the deceased)”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.