bust
 I. bust1 (bŭst)n.
1. A sculpture representing a person's head, shoulders, and upper chest.
2.
a. A woman's bosom.
b. The human chest. [French buste, from Italian busto, possibly from Latin bustum, sepulchral monument.] II. bust2 (bŭst)v. bust·ed, bust·ing, bustsv. tr.
1. Slang.
a. To smash or break, especially forcefully: “Mr. Luger worked it with a rake, busting up the big clods, making a flat brown table” (Garrison Keillor).
b. To render inoperable or unusable:
busted the vending machine by putting in foreign coins.
2. To cause to come to an end; break up:
an attempt to bust the union.
3. To break or tame (a horse).
4. To cause to become bankrupt or short of money: “Too often, the promise of a high-tech design leads to a weapon that busts the budget” (Business Week).
5. Slang. To reduce in rank. See Synonyms at demote.
6. To hit; punch.
7. Slang.
a. To place under arrest.
b. To make a police raid on.v. intr.
1. Slang.
a. To undergo breakage; become broken.
b. To burst; break: “Several companies have threatened to bust out of their high-wage contracts by the dubious technique of declaring bankruptcy” (Washington Post).
2. To become bankrupt or short of money.
3. Games. To lose at blackjack by exceeding a score of 21.n.
1. A failure; a flop: “The home-style bean curd is a bust, oily and rubbery” (Mark and Gail Barnett).
2. A state of bankruptcy.
3. A time or period of widespread financial depression: “Bankers consider the region's diversified economy to be good protection against a possible real estate bust” (American Banker).
4. A punch; a blow.
5. A spree:
a fraternity beer bust.
6. Slang.
a. An arrest.
b. A raid.Idiom:bust (one's) butt/ass Vulgar Slang
To make a strenuous effort; work very hard. [Variant of burst.]
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