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# bust

verb (bust, busts, bust or busted, busting); noun (a bust, busts); adjective (bust)

«bust» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (informal) To bust something is to break it: «I bust my bike». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#m1)
2. A bust is a statue of a person's head, shoulders and chest. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#m2)
3. A bust is a woman's chest, or its measurement for clothes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#m3)
4. (informal) Go bust means a business runs out of money and closes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#m4)
5. (slang) To bust someone is to catch them doing wrong or arrest them; a bust is a police raid. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#m5)
6. (slang) «Busted!» means «you've been caught!». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#m6)

### In the lessons

In everyday talk it is a casual, strong word for «broken» or «caught». In history lessons and museums, busts are statues of famous people. In business news, «the company went bust». Phrases: «go bust», «busted!», «bust a gut» (try very hard), «a drugs bust», «-buster» (ghostbuster, myth-buster).

### Examples

- I bust my headphones when I sat on them. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x1)
- There is a marble bust of the old queen in the museum. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x2)
- The toy shop went bust and closed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x3)
- Busted! I saw you take the last biscuit! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x4)
- The police made a big drugs bust. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x5)
- We bust a gut to finish the model on time. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x6)
- The dressmaker measured her bust, waist and hips. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x7)
- Alfred decided to take a bust of Kaela as well as of her mother. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x8)

### Note

Past form: «bust» (UK) or «busted» (US and informal everywhere). «Bust» for break is informal; in writing use «broke». The chest meaning is polite, not rude. «Busted» can also mean «broken» in US slang: a busted phone.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «bust» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«bust» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/bust.html) on Mova free.