FluentPlex

bust

/bʌst/ verb B1
  1. To break. (US, colloquial, transitive) · I busted my cooker while trying to fix it.
  2. To arrest (someone or a group of people) for a crime. (slang, transitive) · Aaron got busted by the feds for leaking confidential government documents on Reddit.
  3. 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. (slang, transitive)
  4. To debunk, dispel (a belief). (slang, transitive) · We want to bust the myth that real men don't eat quiche.
  5. An emphatic synonym of do or get. · He busted huge air off that jump!
  6. To reduce in rank. (US, informal) · He busted him down to patrolman for insubordination.
  7. To undo a trade, generally an error trade, that has already been executed. (transitive)
  8. To lose all of one's chips.

He/she/it busts · Past busted · Past participle busted · -ing form busting

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Verb forms

Base form
bust
He/she/it
busts
Past
busted
Past participle
busted
-ing form
busting

From the library

You wrote to me about a bust that is in my possession.”
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, p. 93 · C1
I only gave fifteen shillings for the bust, and I think you ought to know that before I take ten pounds from you.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, p. 93 · C1
I brought the bust up with me, as you asked me to do.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, p. 93 · C1
Here it is!” He opened his bag, and at last we saw placed upon our table a complete specimen of that bust which we had already seen more than once in fragments.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, p. 93 · C1

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.