bust
verb /bʌst/
/bʌst/
(informal)Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they bust | /bʌst/ /bʌst/ |
| he / she / it busts | /bʌsts/ /bʌsts/ |
| past simple bust | /bʌst/ /bʌst/ |
| past participle bust | /bʌst/ /bʌst/ |
| past simple busted | /ˈbʌstɪd/ /ˈbʌstɪd/ |
| past participle busted | /ˈbʌstɪd/ /ˈbʌstɪd/ |
| -ing form busting | /ˈbʌstɪŋ/ /ˈbʌstɪŋ/ |
- bust something to break something
- I bust my camera.
- The lights are busted.
- Come out, or I'll bust the door down!
- bust somebody/something (for something) (of the police) to suddenly enter a place and search it or arrest somebody
- He's been busted for drugs.
- He was busted for drunk driving.
- The cops busted the place frequently.
- bust somebody (especially North American English) to make somebody lower in military rank as a punishment synonym demote
Word Originverb mid 18th cent. (originally US, as a noun in the sense ‘an act of bursting or splitting’): variant of burst.
Idioms
bust somebody's chops
- (North American English, informal) to criticize somebody
- Your blog is great but I have to bust your chops a little over this post.
bust a gut (doing something/to do something)
(North American English also bust your butt/chops/hump, North American English, taboo, slang bust your ass)
- (informal) to make a great effort to do something
- It’s a problem which nobody is going to bust a gut trying to solve.
- I busted my chops to get into law school.
- These guys were busting their butts on the field, trying to excel at athletics.
bust (out) some moves/a move
- (informal) to dance
- I'm the sort of guy who loves to bust out some moves at a party.
- The actress was seen busting a move with her friends in a London nightclub.
… or bust
- (informal) used to say that you will try very hard to get somewhere or achieve something
- For him it's the Olympics or bust.