blockbuster

Noun

blockbuster (plural blockbusters)

1. A high-explosive bomb used for the purposes of demolishing extensive areas, such as a city block.
2. (informal) Something, such as a film or book, that sustains exceptional and widespread popularity and achieves enormous sales, as opposed to a box office bomb.
   • He was watching the blockbuster film series Harry Potter.
3. (informal) Something, especially an event or a film, book or other creative work, that is intended to achieve high sales (perhaps indicated by large budgets or high advertising spending) or that is conceived on a large or epic scale
   • "General William Booth Enters into Heaven" is lusty, a blockbuster conception.1961, “Ives”, in Twentieth Century Music In The Western Hemisphere, J. B. Lippincott, page 146
   • The report noted that 'an increasing public appetite for large "blockbuster" musicals is a firmly established feature of London’s West End theatre scene'.1994, “Drama”, in Whitaker's Almanack, 1994, page 1135
4. (slang) Anything very large or powerful; a whopper.
   • “How nice," she responded to his invitation, “but I've got a blockbuster of a headache. I'm paying for last night. Call me tomorrow, will you?"1998, Yves Beauchemin, The Second Fiddle, page 383
   • Many—such as plants' relationships with mycorrhizal fungi—have been blockbuster moments in the history of life, with world-changing consequences.2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 211
5. A large firework of the firecracker type; an M-80.
6. (US) One who engages in blockbusting (technique encouraging people to sell property).
   • Whereas White residents fell prey to blockbusters who stoked fears of invading Negroes and plummeting housing values during the 1950s, African Americans confronted more-than-imagined difficulties in neighborhoods after the 1968 riots.2016, Sabiyha Prince, African Americans and Gentrification in Washington, D.C., page 106