bust

Fetched 2026-10-27 (live).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Verb

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.
To debunk, dispel (a belief).
- We want to bust the myth that real men don't eat quiche.
An emphatic synonym of do or get.
- He busted huge air off that jump!
To reduce in rank.
- He busted him down to patrolman for insubordination.
To undo a trade, generally an error trade, that has already been executed.
To lose all of one's chips.
To exceed a score of 21.
To break in (an animal).
To have sex with (a woman or girl) for the first time, to take another's virginity.
To ejaculate; to eject semen or to squirt.
- I busted a fat one just wackin' it to the selfie she sent me.
For a headline to exceed the amount of space reserved for it.
To refute an established opening.
To shoot (a gun).
- He busted his glock.
To attack, hit or insult (someone).
- He's always busting on you.
To do or perform; to move quickly.
- Bust a left turn.

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.
A refutation of an opening, or of a previously published analysis.
A disappointment.
A player who fails to meet expectations.
The downward portion of a boom and bust cycle; a recession.
A spree, unrestrained revel, or wild party.

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

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.