trustbuster

American

[truhst-buhs-ter] / ˈtrʌstˌbʌs tər /

noun

a federal official who seeks to dissolve business trusts, especially through vigorous application of antitrust regulations.

trustbuster British

/ ˈtrʌstˌbʌstə /

noun

informal a person who seeks the dissolution of corporate trusts, esp a federal official who prosecutes trusts under the antitrust laws

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

trustbusting

noun

Etymology

Origin of trustbuster

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; trust + buster

Vocabulary lists containing trustbuster

Chapter 22: The Progressive Era

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Nominated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905, Landis was a Republican trustbuster in Roosevelt’s mold.

From Washington Post • Apr. 9, 2022

Europe has led the charge with antitrust investigations and Margrethe Vestager, the region’s top trustbuster, recently vowed to take a harder line on the companies.

From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2020

Teddy Roosevelt, the trustbuster himself, was also a eugenicist, an inconvenient fact left out by Wu.

From Salon • Jan. 8, 2019

Some even hoped he might be a Teddy Roosevelt–style trustbuster.

From Slate • Jan. 13, 2017

Former critics now applaud him as a true trustbuster.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023