different between bust vs burst

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?st/
• Rhymes: -?st
• Homophones: bussed, bused

Etymology 1

From French buste < Italian busto, from Latin b?stum.

Noun

bust (plural busts)

1. A sculptural portrayal of a person's head and shoulders.
2. The breasts and upper thorax of a woman.
3. (economics) The downward portion of a boom and bust cycle; a recession.
4. (slang) A police raid or takedown of a criminal enterprise.
5. (slang) A disappointment.

Derived terms

• bust improver
• busty
• overbust
• underbust

Translations

Etymology 2

From a variant of burst. Compare German Low German basten and barsten (“to burst”).

Verb

bust (third-person singular simple present busts, present participle busting, simple past and past participle busted or bust)

1. (transitive, colloquial, chiefly US) To break.

   I busted my cooker while trying to fix it.

2. (transitive, slang) To arrest (someone) for a crime.
3. (transitive, slang) 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.
4. (snowboarding) An emphatic synonym of do or get.

5. (US, informal) To reduce in rank.
   • 1962, The Manchurian Candidate, 01:56:35

     If Steinkamp doesn't take off that hat and stop messing around, I'm gonna bust him into a PFC.

6. (finance, transitive) To undo a trade, generally an error trade, that has already been executed.
7. (poker) To lose all of one's chips.
8. (blackjack) To exceed a score of 21.
9. (transitive, slang) To break in (an animal).
10. (intransitive, slang) To ejaculate; to eject semen.
11. (journalism, intransitive) For a headline to exceed the amount of space reserved for it.
    • 1990, Paul Williams, The Computerized Newspaper: A Practical Guide for Systems Users (page 105)

      The temptation to squeeze in a favourite headline that busts by using the flexibility of new technology is often very strong.

    • 2007, Rob Steen, Sports Journalism: A Multimedia Primer (page 167)

      If your headline busts (breaks the confines of the layout) you will know straightaway. Similarly, the computer will inform you, in terms of the number of lines, how much longer or shorter the copy is in relation to the space allotted.

Synonyms

• (to arrest for a crime): nick

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

bust (plural busts)

1. (slang) The act of arresting someone for a crime, or raiding a suspected criminal operation.

2. (slang) A failed enterprise; a bomb.
3. (chess, informal) A refutation of an opening, or of a previously published analysis.
4. (sports, derogatory) A player who fails to meet expectations.

Derived terms

• or bust

Translations

Adjective

bust (not comparable)

1. (slang) Without any money, broke, bankrupt.

   After months of financial problems, the company finally went bust.

Derived terms

• bust up/bust-up
• busted (adjective)
• buster

Anagrams

• BTUs, TBUs, but's, buts, stub, tubs

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin b?stum.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?bust/

Noun

bust m (plural busts or bustos)

1. bust (sculpture)
2. bust (breasts and upper thorax)

Further reading

• “bust” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

bust

1. second- and third-person singular present indicative of bussen
2. (archaic) plural imperative of bussen

Romanian

Etymology

From French buste.

Noun

bust n (plural busturi)

1. bust (sculpture)

Declension

English

Etymology

From Middle English bersten, from Old English berstan, from Proto-Germanic *brestan? (compare West Frisian boarste, Dutch barsten, Swedish brista), from Proto-Indo-European *b?res- (“to burst, break, crack, split, separate”) (compare Irish bris (“to break”)), enlargement of *b?reHi- (“to snip, split”). More at brine. Also cognate to debris.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /b?st/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /b??st/
• Rhymes: -??(r)st

Verb

burst (third-person singular simple present bursts, present participle bursting, simple past burst or (archaic) brast or (nonstandard) bursted, past participle burst or (rare) bursten or (nonstandard) bursted)

1. (intransitive) To break from internal pressure.

2. (transitive) To cause to break from internal pressure.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to break by any means.
   • He burst his lance against the sand below.

4. (transitive) To separate (printer paper) at perforation lines.

5. (intransitive) To enter or exit hurriedly and unexpectedly.
   • 1913, Mariano Azuela, The Underdogs, translated by E. MunguÍa, Jr.

     Like hungry dogs who have sniffed their meat, the mob bursts in, trampling down the women who sought to bar the entrance with their bodies.

6. (intransitive) To erupt; to change state suddenly as if bursting.

   The flowers burst into bloom on the first day of spring.
7. (transitive) To produce as an effect of bursting.

   to burst a hole through the wall

   • 1856, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X

     He entered Maromme shouting for the people of the inn, burst open the door with a thrust of his shoulder, made for a sack of oats, emptied a bottle of sweet cider into the manger, and again mounted his nag, whose feet struck fire as it dashed along.

8. (transitive) To interrupt suddenly in a violent or explosive manner; to shatter.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:burst.

Coordinate terms

• split, crack

Derived terms

Related terms

• bust

Translations

Noun

burst (plural bursts)

1. An act or instance of bursting.

   The bursts of the bombs could be heard miles away.

2. A sudden, often intense, expression, manifestation or display.

   Synonym: spurt

   • 1860/1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

     "It's my wedding-day," cried Biddy, in a burst of happiness, "and I am married to Joe!"
3. A series of shots fired from an automatic firearm.
4. (military) The explosion of a bomb or missile.

   a ground burst; a surface burst

5. (archaic) A drinking spree.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Strub, strub, sturb, trubs

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse burst, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?r?st/
• Rhymes: -?r?st

Noun

burst f (genitive singular burstar, nominative plural burstir)

1. bristle
2. gable

Declension

Related terms

• bursti
• bursta

Old High German

Alternative forms

• borst

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *burstiz.

Noun

burst n

1. bristle

Descendants

• Middle High German: burst, borst, burste, borste
  • Central Franconian:

    Hunsrik: Berst

    Luxembourgish: Buuscht, Biischt

  • East Central German:

    Erzgebirgisch: bèrschd

  • German: Borste, Bürste

Old Norse

Etymology

from Proto-Germanic *burstiz

Noun

burst f

1. bristle

Declension

References

1. Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, (4. Auflage) 2014