bust

bust
bust1
/bust/, n.
1. a sculptured, painted, drawn, or engraved representation of the upper part of the human figure, esp. a portrait sculpture showing only the head and shoulders of the subject.
2. the chest or breast, esp. a woman's bosom.
[1685-95; < F buste < It busto, prob. < L bustum grave mound, tomb, lit., funeral pyre, ashes; presumably by assoc. with the busts erected over graves]
bust2
/bust/, v.i.
1. Informal.
a. to burst.
b. to go bankrupt.
c. to collapse from the strain of making a supreme effort: She was determined to make straight A's or bust.
2. Cards.
a. Draw Poker. to fail to make a flush or straight by one card.
b. Blackjack. to draw cards exceeding the count of 21.
v.t.
3. Informal.
a. to burst.
b. to bankrupt; ruin financially.
4. to demote, esp. in military rank or grade: He was busted from sergeant to private three times.
5. to tame; break: to bust a bronco.
6. Slang.
a. to place under arrest: The gang was busted and put away on narcotics charges.
b. to subject to a police raid: The bar has been busted three times for selling drinks to minors.
7. Informal.
a. to hit.
b. to break; fracture: She fell and busted her arm.
8. bust ass, Slang (vulgar). to fight with the fists; strike or thrash another.
9. bust on, Slang.
a. to attack physically; beat up.
b. to criticize or reprimand harshly.
c. to make fun of or laugh at; mock.
d. to inform on.
10. bust one's ass, Slang (vulgar). to make an extreme effort; exert oneself.
11. bust up, Informal.
a. to break up; separate: Sam and his wife busted up a year ago.
b. to damage or destroy: Soldiers got in a fight and busted up the bar.
n.
12. a failure.
13. Informal. a hit; sock; punch: He got a bust in the nose before he could put up his hands.
14. a sudden decline in the economic conditions of a country, marked by an extreme drop in stock-market prices, business activity, and employment; depression.
15. Slang.
a. an arrest.
b. a police raid.
16. Informal. a drinking spree; binge.
17. Cards.
a. a very weak hand.
b. Bridge. a hand lacking the potential to take a single trick.
adj.
18. Informal. bankrupt; broke.
[1755-65; var. of BURST, by loss of r before s, as in ASS2, BASS2, PASSEL, etc.]
Usage. Historically BUST is derived from a dialect pronunciation of BURST and is related to it much as cuss is related to curse. BUST is both a noun and a verb and has a wide range of meanings for both uses. Many are slang or informal. A few, as "a decline in economic conditions, depression," are standard.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • bust-up — ˈbust up noun [countable] 1. when a unit such as a company or department is broken into parts 2. JOURNALISM when people disagree strongly: • a boardroom bust up, when the chief executive walked out after six weeks in the job * * * bust up UK US… …   Financial and business terms

  • bust-up — n informal 1.) the end of a relationship bust up of ▪ the bust up of their marriage →bust up at ↑bust1 2.) BrE a very bad quarrel or fight ▪ Cathy and I had a real bust up yesterday …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • bust-up — bust ups 1) N COUNT A bust up is a serious quarrel, often resulting in the end of a relationship. [INFORMAL] She had had this bust up with her family. Syn: row 2) N COUNT A bust up is a fight. [BRIT, INFORMAL] ...a bust up which she says left her …   English dictionary

  • bust — [n1] chest of human bosom, breast, chest, front; concept 392 bust [n2] arrest for illegal action apprehension, arrest, capture, cop, detention, nab, pickup, pinch, raid, search, seizure; concepts 298,317 Ant. exoneration bust [v1] …   New thesaurus

  • bust — ust (b[u^]st), v. i. 1. To break or burst. [informal] [PJC] 2. (Card Playing) In blackjack, to draw a card that causes one s total to exceed twenty one. [PJC] 3. To go bankrupt. [PJC] {to go bust} to go bankrupt. {or bust} or collapse from the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Bust — may refer to: * Bust (sculpture), a sculpture depicting a person s head and shoulders * Bust (magazine), a feminist pop culture magazine * An alternative term for an arrest. * An alternative term for human breasts. * A song by Outkast from… …   Wikipedia

  • bust — Ⅰ. bust [1] ► NOUN 1) a woman s breasts. 2) a sculpture of a person s head, shoulders, and chest. ORIGIN French buste, from Latin bustum tomb, sepulchral monument . Ⅱ. bust [2] informal …   English terms dictionary

  • bust — bust1 [bust] n. [Fr buste < It busto] 1. a piece of sculpture representing the head, shoulders, and upper chest of a human body 2. the human bosom; esp., the breasts of a woman SYN. BREAST bust2 [bust] Informal vt. [orig., dial. var. of …   English World dictionary

  • bust|ed — «BUHS tihd», adjective. 1. Slang. broken. 2. Informal. ruined; bankrupt. busted, combining form. having a bust: »Full busted = having a full bust …   Useful english dictionary

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