bust

To break something or make it stop working.

• I busted my phone.
• The pressure busted a pipe.
• Did you bust the lock?

Similar words: break, damage

Common phrases: bust something open, bust a pipe, bust a window

If police do this to someone, they catch them and take them away for a crime.

• Police busted the dealer.
• She was busted for stealing a car.
• They busted three men during the raid.

How to use it: bust someone for something (Police busted him for selling drugs.)

Similar words: arrest

Opposites: release

Common phrases: bust someone for something, bust a dealer

To show that a widely believed idea is wrong.

• These facts bust an old myth.
• Her research busted several common myths.
• Can this experiment bust the belief?

Similar words: disprove, debunk

Common phrases: bust a myth, bust the belief

A statue showing only a person’s head, shoulders, and upper chest.

• A marble bust stood on the shelf.
• The museum displays busts of famous writers.
• She made a bronze bust of her father.

How to use it: bust of someone (They displayed a bust of the poet.)

Common phrases: marble bust, bust of someone, bronze bust

A woman’s breasts, or the measurement around her chest at its widest point.

• The dress is tight across the bust.
• Measure your bust before ordering a bra.
• This jacket suits a fuller bust.

Similar words: chest

Common phrases: bust size, bust measurement, full bust

An action by police to catch criminals, often by entering a building.

• Three people were arrested in the bust.
• Police seized weapons during a major bust.
• The drug bust followed months of investigation.

Similar words: raid

Common phrases: drug bust, police bust, major bust

Unable to pay debts because there is no money left.

• The company went bust.
• Several small shops are now bust.
• His business went bust after losing its biggest customer.

How to use it: go bust (The firm went bust last year.)

Similar words: bankrupt, broke

Opposites: solvent

Common phrases: go bust, be bust