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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

buster en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Originally a dialectal variant of burster; later influenced by bust + -er. The combining form of the term has appeared from the early 20th century but been especially prolific during three periods: in the 1930s, owing to the success of the radio series Gang Busters; in the 1940s, owing to its appearance as military slang; and in the 1980s, owing to the success of the movie Ghostbusters.

Meanings

  1. (colloquial, with 'of') Someone who or something that bursts, breaks, or destroys a specified thing.
    • Now death, I pray thee what is it, but a buster of bonds; a destruction of toyle? 1614, S. Jerome, Moses his Sight of Canaan, section 147:
    • Rothlin was described... by the papers as the buster of the bandit ring. 2005, J. Madhavan, Sita & Forest Bandits, section 122:
  2. (slang) Forming compounds denoting a team, weapon, or device specialized in the destruction of the first element.
    • Our main purpose in further experimentation with nuclear bombs is not... to make city-busters more horrible. 1958 February 10, Life, section 70:
    • German ‘balloon busters’ attack the Dover barrage. 1940 September 2, Life, 29/1:
    • The bombs used in the strikes were GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators, known as a “bunker busters,” two sources familiar with the operation said. 2025 June 21, Kevin Liptak, “Strikes on Iranian nuclear sites thrust US into escalating Middle East conflict”, in CNN:
    • B-2 bombers are the only plane capable of carrying the Massive Ordinance Penetrator, which experts have highlighted as the only type of bomb potentially capable of destroying Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility. Each B-2 bomber is able to carry two of these “bunker buster” bombs, which weigh an impressive 30,000 pounds each. 2025 June 21, Thomas Bordeaux, Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen, “US moves B-2 bombers as Trump weighs Iran options”, in CNN:
  3. (US, colloquial, dated, in particular, slang, with 'of') Someone who or something that 'breaks', tames, or overpowers a specified person or thing. ▸ A broncobuster.
    • Some busters caught their horses for the first time over the head, and snubbed or choked them until they fell gasping. 1964, John Hendrix, If I Can Do It Horseback: A Cow-Country Sketchbook, page 40:
    • The buster must be careful to keep well away from sheds and timber. 1891 July, Harper's Magazine, 208/2:
  4. (colloquial, slang, with 'of') Someone who or something that 'breaks', tames, or overpowers a specified person or thing. ▸ Forming compounds denoting an agent or agency tasked with reducing or eliminating the first element.
    • The professional fraud-busters [of the art world]. 1974 July 4, New Scientist, 65/2
    • New York City traffic agents have become Gridlock Busters and cigarette foes are smokebusters. 1984 November 18, Times, N.Y, iv. 24/2:
    • Men nicknamed him the ‘Booze Buster’, and cartoonists loved to picture him, revolver in hand,... fighting the demon rum. 1920, F. A. McKenzie, ‘Pussyfoot’ Johnson, v. 83
  5. (dated, slang) Someone or something remarkable, especially for being loud, large, etc.
    • ‘I had to clean this old roarer,’ continued the ‘editor’... as he wiped the barrel of his pistol. ‘She's a buster, I tell you.’ 1833 April, Parthenon, section 293:
    • What a buster of a lunch it turned out to be. 2004 November 20, South Wales Echo, section 9:
  6. (colloquial, dated, qualifier:variously expressing familiarity; admiration; or hostility; variously expressing familiarity; admiration; or hostility, slang) Someone or something remarkable, especially for being loud, large, etc. ▸ A form of address, particularly of men: guy, dude, fella, mack, buddy, loser. (Originally as 'old buster'.)
    • That's generous, old buster. 1838 March 24, New Yorker, 4/1:
    • Calvin: I'm going to watch TV all night. Mom: That's what you think, buster! 1986 February 27, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):
    • An extremely wealthy old buster. 1919, P.G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves, section 79:
    • ‘Careful, buster,’ she said. ‘I've got a knife in my hand.’ 2001, S. MacKay, Fall Guy, ix. 113:
  7. (obsolete, slang) A loaf of bread.
    • An 8oz. loaf of brown bread... goes by the name of ‘buster’, I suppose on account of the way they blow you out. 1904 June 8, Journal of the Department of Labour, New Zealand, section 536:
    • Three penny busters, and a whole kit-full of winegar and mustard. 1835 September 16, Morning Post, 4/2:
  8. (obsolete, slang) A drinking spree, a binge.
    • They were on a buster, and were taken up by the police. 1848, John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms:
    • All off for a buster, armstrong, hollering down the street. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 14: Oxen of the Sun]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 405:
  9. (dated, slang) A gale, a strong wind; (especially Australia) a southerly buster.
    • ‘This is a buster,’ i.e. a powerful or heavy wind. 1848, John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms:
    • When the barometer drops rapidly... watch out for a strong sou'wester. A buster can be on you in a flash. 1991, J. Moore, By Way of Wind, section 121:
    • The Buster and Brickfielder: austral red-dust blizzard and red-hot Simoom. 1886, Frank Cowan, Australia, section 14:
  10. (Australia, New-Zealand) A heavy fall; (also performing arts) a staged fall, a pratfall.
    • Dainty... came down ‘a buster’ at the last hurdle, and Scots Grey cantered in by himself. 1874 April, Baily's Monthly Magazine, section 114:
  11. (US, regional) A molting crab.
    • In that state he is called a ‘Buster’, bursting his shell. 1855 October 18, Henry A. Wise, letter in J.P. Hambleton's Biographical Sketch of Henry A. Wise (1856), 448
    • Restaurant August... serves contemporary French cuisine prepared with Louisiana ingredients like buster crabs, shrimp and oysters. 2002 January 6, Times, N.Y, v. 4/6:
  12. (slang) A cheat's die whose sides bear only certain combinations of spots, so that undesirable values can never be rolled.
    • To make six-eight, natural dice, or busters, he would take unspotted dice and then grind and color only the spots he wanted. 1977, National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, The Development of the Law of Gambling: 1776-1976, page 423:
    • Tops and Bottoms (also Tops, Busters, Ts, Mis-spots): These are the dice used by the professional cheats. 1961, John Scarne, Complete Guide to Gambling, page 283:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
busters Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

mythbuster · fort-buster · unionbuster · balloon-buster · tankbuster · crimebuster · crime-buster · dustbuster · knuckle-buster · booze-buster · gutbuster · ballbuster · ball-buster · cultbuster · middlebuster · block-buster · rust-buster · gangbuster · chartbuster · belly-buster · old buster · quackbuster · dam-buster · trustbuster · bunker buster · have a buster · facebuster · rate-buster · fisherman buster · bronco buster · stressbuster · brick-buster · bronco-buster · swampbuster · brainbuster · bust-out man · come a buster · slumpbuster · thirst-buster · ratebuster · scud-buster · crime buster · stubble buster · belly buster · price buster · sprawlbuster · sodbuster · dambuster · gangbusters · broncobuster · thumb-buster · dust buster · ship-buster · ghostbuster · blockbuster · doorbuster · spinebuster · racketbuster · skull-buster · drugbuster · cloudbuster · rodbuster

Translations (39)

ca botabancals (loser, uncool person) · ca tipus (guy, friend) · de Kerl (guy, friend) · fi kamu (guy, friend) · ru неуда́чник (loser, uncool person) · fi mäntti (loser, uncool person) · ca botaxarcos (loser, uncool person) · ca trompellot (loser, uncool person) · ca tio (guy, friend) · es boludo (loser, uncool person) · de Aufbrecher (person or thing that breaks or overwhelms) · de Knacker (person or thing that breaks or overwhelms) · ca xafaxancles (loser, uncool person) · nl vriend (guy, friend) · es huevón (loser, uncool person) · ca castellà (loser, uncool person) · de Idiot (loser, uncool person) · de Junge (guy, friend) · de Freundchen (guy, friend) · ca sangonera (loser, uncool person) · pt otário (loser, uncool person) · es tipo (guy, friend) · ca astropellat (loser, uncool person) · es tío (guy, friend) · ca xafaxarcos (loser, uncool person) · de Zersprenger (person or thing that breaks or overwhelms) · es amigo (guy, friend) · ru па́рень (guy, friend) · de Kerlchen (guy, friend) · de Loser (loser, uncool person) · ca tros de figa (loser, uncool person) · de Alter (guy, friend) · fi uuno (loser, uncool person) · ru стрёмный чува́к (loser, uncool person) · ca company (guy, friend) · ru друг (guy, friend) · fr pote (guy, friend) · ca rebenta- (person or thing that breaks or overwhelms) · de Brecher (person or thing that breaks or overwhelms)

wikipedia: Gang Busters · wikipedia: Ghostbusters