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Added 7 October 2026

bust

/bʌst/ verb

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bust at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To break.
I busted my cooker while trying to fix it.
To arrest (someone or a group of people) for a crime.
Aaron got busted by the feds for leaking confidential government documents on Reddit.
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.

noun

The act of arresting someone for a crime, or raiding a suspected criminal operation.
a narcotics bust
A police raid or takedown of a criminal enterprise.
A failed enterprise; a bomb.

adjective

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

noun

A sculptural portrayal of a person's head and shoulders.
A woman's breasts; the circumference of her chest measured around the breasts.

Origin

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

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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