like gangbusters

Idioms  

1. Energetically, forcefully, loudly. For example, This is a soft passage—the horns shouldn't come in like gangbusters. This expression alludes to a popular radio series entitled Gangbusters, which featured explosive sound effects, such as gunfire and sirens, at the beginning of each episode. [Slang; late 1930s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

like gangbusters

You may have noticed that amid all this domestic doom and gloom, China keeps exporting like gangbusters, with industrial production and export sales among the few bright points in the economic story.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

He wanted audiences to fall in love with the singular daffiness of his former girlfriend and it worked like gangbusters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2025

At a shareholder meeting in 2021, Timian-Palmer told investors that Horton was "moving like gangbusters" in the north suburbs of Reno, planning multiple subdivisions that could purchase water from Vidler's long-dormant Fish Springs Ranch pipeline.

From Salon ● May 7, 2023

This final-act martyrdom not only worked like gangbusters dramatically but also forced the Boomers in the audience to uncomfortably confront their own values and mortality.

From New York Times ● Aug. 4, 2022

So far, it’s worked like gangbusters, as Richard would say.

From "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead

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