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Definition of "bust" []

  • A sculpture representing a person's head, shoulders, and upper chest. (noun)
  • A woman's bosom. (noun)
  • The human chest. (noun)
  • Slang 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). (verb-transitive)
  • Slang To render inoperable or unusable: busted the vending machine by putting in foreign coins. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "bust" in a sentence
  • "I think this bust would have been better as a full-size statue or even a diorama, but if a bust is the only way I can bring this slightly obscure Disney baddie home, so be it."
  • "Included with this bust is a separate Central City manhole cover, to be placed on or near the bust by the consumer."
  • "But the other thing people need to watch out for is what I call the bust-out cell phone bill."