[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/bust.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / bust

[← B](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/B/)

# bust

«bust» in Mova's school dictionary: **to break it: «I bust my bike»** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

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

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal) To bust something is to break it: «I bust my bike». [tree →](https://md.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://md.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://md.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://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#m5)

6) (slang) «Busted!» means «you've been caught!». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#m6)

### sense 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://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x2)
- The toy shop went bust and closed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x3)
- Busted! I saw you take the last biscuit! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x4)
- The police made a big drugs bust. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x5)
- We bust a gut to finish the model on time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/#x6)
- The dressmaker measured her bust, waist and hips. [tree →](https://md.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://md.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.

### In the corpora

- [A late coach becomes "the coach company went bust".](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «bust» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bust/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.