bust

See also: büst

English

WOTD – 19 January 2016

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbʌst/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -ʌst
Homophones: bussed, bused

Etymology 1

From Middle English busten, a variant of Middle English bursten, bresten (“to burst”). Compare German Low German basten and barsten (“to burst”). More at burst.

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.
I busted my cooker while trying to fix it.
(transitive, slang) To arrest (someone) 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.
(snowboarding) An emphatic synonym of do or get.
He busted huge air off that jump!
(US, informal) To reduce in rank.
He busted him down to patrolman for insubordination.
- 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).
- 1997, Charles Oswald, Gone with the Western Wind:
  A few weeks later, Richard was killed accidentally while busting a wild mustang […]
(transitive, slang) To break in (a woman or girl), To deflower
- 2014, Tison Pugh, Truman Capote: A Literary Life at the Movies‎, page 127:
  Smith hears Nancy's protests - "Don't ... no, please don't." - when Hicock menaces her with "You ever had a man?" Finding Hicock rubbing her thigh as she whimpers in fear, Smith confronts him about his intentions, and Hicock says, "First, I'm going to bust that little girl." Smith tells him no, but Hicock replies, "What do you care? You can bust her too."
(intransitive, slang) To ejaculate; to eject semen.
(journalism, intransitive) For a headline to exceed the amount of space reserved for it.
- 1990, Paul Williams, The Computerized Newspaper: A Practical Guide for Systems Users (page 105)
  The temptation to squeeze in a favourite headline that busts by using the flexibility of new technology is often very strong.
- 2007, Rob Steen, Sports Journalism: A Multimedia Primer (page 167)
  If your headline busts (breaks the confines of the layout) you will know straightaway. Similarly, the computer will inform you, in terms of the number of lines, how much longer or shorter the copy is in relation to the space allotted.
(chess, slang) To refute an established opening.
- 2012 April 2, Frederic Friedel, “Rajlich: Busting the King's Gambit, this time for sure”, in ChessBase‎:
  So is the King's Gambit really busted?

Synonyms

(to arrest for a crime): nick

Derived terms

ball-bust
belly-busting
bunker-busting
bust a cap
bust a cap in someone's ass
bust a gasket
bust a gut
bust a move
bust a nut
bust ass
bust ass cold
bust chops
bust loose
bust on
bust one's ass
bust one's balls
bust one's butt
bust one's chops
bust one's gut
bust one's hump
bust one's neck
bust-out
bust out
bust sod
bust someone's agates
bust someone's ass
bust someone's balls
bust the dust
bust up
genre-busting
gut-busting
lung-busting
mutton busting
trend-busting

Translations

alteration of burst

Dutch: barsten (nl), breken (nl)
French: éclater (fr)
German: bersten (de)
Italian: scoppiare (it) (intransitive), far scoppiare (transitive)
Spanish: reventar (es)

to break something

Afrikaans: breek (af)
Bulgarian: счупвам (bg) (sčupvam), разбивам (bg) (razbivam)
Catalan: esbotzar (ca), rebentar (ca), destrossar (ca)
Dutch: breken (nl)
Finnish: rikkoa (fi)
French: bouziller (fr), niquer (fr), péter (fr)
German: zerbrechen (de), zerstören (de)
Italian: rompere (it), sfasciare (it)
Spanish: reventar (es), partir (es)

(slang) to arrest for a crime

Bulgarian: арестувам (bg) (arestuvam)
Catalan: atrapar (ca), enxampar (ca)
Dutch: oppakken (nl), bij de lurven pakken, vatten (nl)
Finnish: pidättää (fi)
French: attraper (fr), arrêter (fr)
German: einlochen (de)
Italian: acciuffare (it), attaccare (it)
Spanish: trincar (es)
Swedish: arrestera (sv), haffa (sv)

(slang) to catch someone in the act of doing something wrong, socially and morally inappropriate, or illegal

Afrikaans: betrap
Catalan: enxampar (ca)
Dutch: betrappen (nl)
Finnish: narauttaa (fi), käräyttää (fi)
French: pincer (fr), choper (fr), prendre sur le fait (fr), prendre la main dans le sac (fr) (slang), gauler (fr)
German: ertappen (de), erwischen (de)
Italian: sgamare (it)
Russian: засту́кать (ru) pf (zastúkatʹ), спали́ть (ru) pf (spalítʹ)
Spanish: cazar (es), pillar (es)
Swedish: ertappa (sv)

(snowboarding) An emphatic to do

(US) to reduce in rank

German: degradieren (de)
Hungarian: összeomlik (hu)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} meletus (id), ^{(please verify)} meletup (id)

Noun

bust (plural busts)

(slang) The act of arresting someone for a crime, or raiding a suspected criminal operation.
a narcotics bust
(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.

Derived terms

baby bust
beer-bust
boom-and-bust
boom or bust
or bust

Translations

act of arresting someone for a crime, or raiding a suspected criminal operation

Dutch: arrestatie (nl) f, razzia (nl) f
Finnish: pidätys (fi), ratsia (fi)
French: arrestation (fr) f
Italian: arresto (it) m, fare irruzione, irruzione (it) f
Polish: nalot (pl) m (police raid)
Russian: налёт (ru) m (naljót), обла́ва (ru) f (obláva), рейд (ru) m (rejd)

failed enterprise

Dutch: flop (nl), fiasco (nl) n
Finnish: epäonnistuminen (fi), fiasko (fi), floppi (fi)
French: fiasco (fr) m, bide (fr) m
German: Scheitern (de) n, Flopp m, Fiasko (de) n
Italian: fiasco (it) m
Polish: klapa (pl) f, fiasko (pl) n
Spanish: fiasco (es) m

Adjective

bust (not comparable)

(slang) Without any money, broke, bankrupt.
After months of financial problems, the company finally went bust.

Derived terms

bust up/bust-up
busted (adjective)
go bust

Etymology 2

Bust of Marie Antoinette

The Bust of Pericles with the Corinthian Helmet, Roman after a Greek original, from circa 430 BC, made of marble

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.
The breasts and upper thorax of a woman.

Derived terms

bust improver
bustlike
busty
overbust
underbust

Translations

sculptural portrayal of a person's head and shoulders

Armenian: կիսանդրի (hy) (kisandri)
Bulgarian: бюст m (bjust)
Catalan: bust (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 胸像 (zh) (xiōngxiàng), 半身像 (zh) (bànshēnxiàng)
Czech: busta (cs) f, bysta f, poprsí n
Danish: buste c
Dutch: buste (nl) m or f, borstbeeld (nl) n
Esperanto: busto (eo)
Estonian: büst
Faroese: bringumynd f
Finnish: rintakuva (fi), pysti (fi)
French: buste (fr) m
Georgian: ბიუსტი (biusṭi)
German: Büste (de) f
Greek: μπούστο (el) n (boústo)
Hungarian: mellszobor (hu)
Icelandic: brjóstmynd f
Ido: busto (io)
Irish: busta m, dealbh bhrád f
Italian: busto (it) m
Japanese: 胸像 (ja) (きょうぞう, kyōzō), 半身像 (はんしんぞう, hanshinzō)
Korean: 흉상 (ko) (hyungsang)
Latvian: biste (lv) f
Lithuanian: biustas m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: byste m or f
Nynorsk: byste m or f
Polish: popiersie (pl) n, biust (pl) m
Portuguese: busto (pt) m
Romanian: bust (ro) n
Russian: бюст (ru) m (bjust)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: би̏ста f
Roman: bȉsta (sh) f
Slovak: busta f
Spanish: busto (es) m
Swedish: byst (sv) c
Tagalog: busto

breasts and upper thorax of a woman

Bulgarian: бюст m (bjust)
Catalan: bust (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 婦女胸部／妇女胸部 (fùnǚ xiōngbù)
Czech: poprsí n
Dutch: boezem (nl) m or f
Faroese: barmur m
Finnish: povi (fi)
French: buste (fr) m
German: Busen (de) m
Greek: μπούστο (el) n (boústo)
Italian: busto (it) m
Japanese: 乳房 (ja) (にゅうぼう, nyūbō, ちぶさ, chibusa)
Korean: 앞가슴 (ko) (apgaseum)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: byste m or f
Nynorsk: byste m or f
Plautdietsch: Bossem m, Brost f
Polish: biust (pl) m
Portuguese: busto (pt) m
Russian: бюст (ru) m (bjust), же́нская грудь f (žénskaja grudʹ)
Spanish: busto (es) m
Swedish: byst (sv) c

Anagrams

BTUs, TBUs, but's, buts, stub, tubs

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin būstum.

Pronunciation

(Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈbust/

Noun

bust m (plural busts or bustos)

bust (sculpture)
bust (breasts and upper thorax)

Dutch

Pronunciation

Audio (file)

Verb

bust

second- and third-person singular present indicative of bussen
(archaic) plural imperative of bussen

Romanian

Etymology

From French buste.

Noun

bust n (plural busturi)

bust (sculpture)

Declension

Declension of bust

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) bust	bustul	(niște) busturi	busturile
genitive/dative	(unui) bust	bustului	(unor) busturi	busturilor
vocative	bustule		busturilor

bust

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Verb

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Further reading

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

Romanian

Etymology

Noun

Declension