bust

¹ American  

[buhst] / bʌst /

noun

1. a sculptured, painted, drawn, or engraved representation of the upper part of the human figure, especially a portrait sculpture showing only the head and shoulders of the subject.

2. the chest or breast, especially a woman's bosom.

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bust ² American  

[buhst] / bʌst /

verb (used without object)

• busts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• busted,
  past participle,  past
• bust,
  past participle,  past
• busting
  present participle

1. Informal.

   1. to burst.

   2. to go bankrupt.

   3. to collapse from the strain of making a supreme effort.

      She was determined to make straight A's or bust.

2. Cards.

   1. Draw Poker. to fail to make a flush or straight by one card.

   2. Blackjack. to draw cards exceeding the count of 21.

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verb (used with object)

• busts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• busted,
  past participle,  past
• bust,
  past participle,  past
• busting
  present participle

1. Informal.

   1. to burst.

   2. to bankrupt; ruin financially.

2. to demote, especially in military rank or grade.

   He was busted from sergeant to private three times.

3. to tame; break.

   to bust a bronco.

4. Slang.

   1. to place under arrest.

      The gang was busted and put away on narcotics charges.

   2. to subject to a police raid.

      The bar has been busted three times for selling drinks to minors.

5. Informal.

   1. to hit.

   2. to break; fracture.

      She fell and busted her arm.

noun

1. a failure.

2. Informal. a hit; sock; punch.

   He got a bust in the nose before he could put up his hands.

3. a sudden decline in the economic conditions of a country, marked by an extreme drop in stock-market prices, business activity, and employment; depression.

4. Slang.

   1. an arrest.

   2. a police raid.

5. Informal. a drinking spree; binge.

6. Cards.

   1. a very weak hand.

   2. Bridge. a hand lacking the potential to take a single trick.

adjective

1. Informal. bankrupt; broke.

verb phrase

1. bust up

   1. to break up; separate.

      Sam and his wife busted up a year ago.

   2. to damage or destroy.

      Soldiers got in a fight and busted up the bar.

idioms

1. bust ass, to fight with the fists; strike or thrash another.

2. bust on,

   1. to attack physically; beat up.

   2. to criticize or reprimand harshly.

   3. to make fun of or laugh at; mock.

   4. to inform on.

3. bust one's ass, to make an extreme effort; exert oneself.

bust ¹ British  

/ bʌst /

verb

1. to burst or break

2. to make or become bankrupt

3. (tr) (of the police) to raid, search, or arrest

   the girl was busted for drugs

4. (tr) to demote, esp in military rank

5. (tr) to break or tame (a horse, etc)

6. (tr) to punch; hit

7. See gut

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noun

1. a raid, search, or arrest by the police

2. a punch; hit

3. a failure, esp a financial one; bankruptcy

4. a drunken party

adjective

1. broken

2. bankrupt

3. to become bankrupt

bust ² British  

/ bʌst /

noun

1. the chest of a human being, esp a woman's bosom

2. a sculpture of the head, shoulders, and upper chest of a person

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bust More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing bust

• break (bust) one's ass
• go broke (bust)

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Usage

What does or bust mean? The phrase or bust is used when someone is pursuing an end no matter what, even if they fail trying. Saying New York City or bust, for example, means someone is doing absolutely everything to go there. How is or bust pronounced?[ awr buhst ]

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• busting
  present
• bust
  past
• busted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bust
  simple
• busts
  simple
• have bust
  perfect
• have busted
  perfect
• has bust
  perfect
• has busted
  perfect
• am busting
  progressive
• are busting
  progressive
• is busting
  progressive
• have been busting
  perfect progressive
• has been busting
  perfect progressive

Past

• bust
  simple
• busted
  simple
• had bust
  perfect
• had busted
  perfect
• was busting
  progressive
• were busting
  progressive
• had been busting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bust
  simple
• will have bust
  perfect
• will have busted
  perfect
• will be busting
  progressive
• will have been busting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of bust¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from French buste, from Italian busto, probably from Latin bustum “funeral pyre, ashes, grave mound, tomb,” presumably by association with the busts erected over graves

Origin of bust²

First recorded in 1755–65; variant of burst, by loss of r before s, as in ass ², bass ², passel, etc.

Explanation

If you bust something, you have broken it. A bust can also be a statue of someone from the shoulders up. Be careful to not bust a bust on your next field trip! Several meanings of bust are pretty discouraging. You might describe your business as bust if it's totally out of money, for example. Or you might threaten your younger sister, "If you bust my ceramic unicorn, you're in big trouble!" There's also the kind of bust that might sit on your piano, like a bust of Mozart or Bach — a statue of a person's head and upper shoulders. This is the oldest meaning of the word, from the Italian busto, "upper body."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bust busts busted busting

The bust is about 22 inches wide, 18 inches high and 10 inches deep, according to the couple.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

The couple isn’t planning on getting the bust appraised due to the high cost of the service.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

“If that bust comes sooner than many people anticipate, the area of the market that is potentially punished the most would be the neoclouds.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Expect it also to bust through the clotted mindset of Europe’s policymakers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

If the company borrowed millions of francs and then went bust, Armand Peugeot did not owe its creditors a single franc.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

The post-financial-crisis era of easy money has led to repeated booms and busts in small, and sometimes not-so-small, parts of the market in the past 15 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Facing the threat of fresh tariffs, Vietnamese authorities pledged to increase IP violation busts by at least 20% in May compared to the same period last year.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

And despite the recent flurry of news and headlines, there is nothing new about these busts.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

Communities soon removed statues and busts of him and scrubbed his name from streets, parks and schools.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

“I don’t quite understand the need for all this secrecy. Don’t law enforcement agencies usually want to publicize big arrests? Aren’t smuggling busts public information?”

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

His diplomacy around fixing a busted sewage system might prove to be crucial to gaining club membership, members said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Newly appointed BBC chief Matt Brittin recently described the licence fee as a "busted flush"

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

“There are hundreds of busted, dangerous sidewalks in South L A that have gone unrepaired for years,” he wrote to his network of followers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026

Louis, in comparison, is kinda busted — gloomy, tortured, unable to fully embrace the everlasting banquet Lestat has laid out for him.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026

“Not, I grant you, but what his manners is given to blusterous,” said Joe, apologetically; “still, a Englishman’s ouse is his Castle, and castles must not be busted ’cept when done in war time.

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

The Sweet 16 round of the tournament begins on Thursday night, and some of the top earners can be found still scoring baskets and busting brackets.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 25, 2026

Talarico-like candidates are busting out across the U.S., if few in his seminarian mold.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026

Defence Secretary John Healey said the action was "in full compliance with international law", and "formed part of global efforts to crack down on sanctions- busting".

From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026

With all its starts and stops, twists and turns, reaches and lunges, pickleball is busting the Medicare bank, with a few hundred million dollars’ worth of injuries each year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2026

Mr. Waller yelled, “Evening, Eli. Them fish looks too heavy for a boy your size to be toting. You’s ’bout to end up busting something on you that you gunn need one day.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Related Words

• apprehend
• detain
• pinch