Word.ws English Dictionary

buster

UK/ˈbʌstə//ˈbʌstɚ/

buster noun: someone who or something that bursts, breaks, or destroys a specified thing.

Noun

buster (plural busters)

  1. (colloquial) 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.
    • German ‘balloon busters’ attack the Dover barrage.1940 September 2, Life, 29/1
    • Our main purpose in further experimentation with nuclear bombs is not... to make city-busters more horrible.1958 February 10, Life, section 70
  3. (US, colloquial, dated, slang) A broncobuster.
    • The buster must be careful to keep well away from sheds and timber.1891 July, Harper's Magazine, 208/2
    • 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
  4. (colloquial, slang) Forming compounds denoting an agent or agency tasked with reducing or eliminating the first element.
    • 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
    • The professional fraud-busters [of the art world].1974 July 4, New Scientist, 65/2
  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
    1. (colloquial, dated, slang, variously expressing familiarity, admiration, or hostility) 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
      • An extremely wealthy old buster.1919, P.G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves, section 79
  6. (obsolete, slang) A loaf of bread.
    • Three penny busters, and a whole kit-full of winegar and mustard.1835 September 16, Morning Post, 4/2
    • 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
  7. (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
  8. (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
    • The Buster and Brickfielder: austral red-dust blizzard and red-hot Simoom.1886, Frank Cowan, Australia, section 14
  9. (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
  10. (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
  11. (slang) A cheat's die whose sides bear only certain combinations of spots, so that undesirable values can never be rolled.
    • 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
    • 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

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Buster

Buster

  1. A surname.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Buster

Buster

  1. A male given name.
  2. A male nickname.
  3. (colloquial, variously expressing familiarity, admiration, or hostility) Synonym of guy, term of address for a man or person.
    • Beginning with a curt “Listen, Buster,” she proceeded to sketch out with admirable clearness the salient points in the situation as she envisaged it [...] “I thought she was splendidly firm.” “Yes, sir.” “It's the red hair that does it, I imagine.” “Yes, sir.” “If anyone had told me that I should...1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC
    • Set this straight, Buster. I'm not here to say "please." I'm here to tell you want to do. And if self-preservation is an instinct you possess, you better fuckin' do it and do it quick.1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by The Wolf (Harvey Keitel)
    Synonyms:
    guy, term of address for a man or person

buster meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

buster in Hindi

बस्टर, बसटर

buster in Tamil

பஸ்டர், புஸ்டர்

buster in Marathi

बस्टर

buster in Urdu

چھوٹا لڑکا
More languagesFewer languages
buster in Bengali
বাস্টার, বস্টার
buster in Telugu
బస్టర్
buster in Malayalam
ബസ്റ്റർ
buster in Kannada
ಬಸ್ಟರ್
buster in Punjabi
ਬੱਸਟਰ, ਬਸਟਰ
buster in Gujarati
બસ્ટર
buster in Odia
ବଷ୍ଟର, ବଷ୍ଟର୍
buster in Nepali
बस्टर, बसटर

Examples of buster in a sentence

  • 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:
  • 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:
  • New York City traffic agents have become Gridlock Busters and cigarette foes are smokebusters.1984 November 18, Times, N.Y, iv. 24/2:
  • ‘Careful, buster,’ she said. ‘I've got a knife in my hand.’2001, S. MacKay, Fall Guy, ix. 113:

All 29 example sentences with buster

Synonyms of buster

  • guy
  • term of address for a man or person

Forms of buster

pluralbusters

Plural of buster: busters

Origin of buster

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.

From Austrian German Buste (“pockmark, boil”), from Latin apostema (“boil”), + -er.

From buster.

Words formed from buster

Phrases with buster

9 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with buster

Questions about buster

What does buster mean?
Buster means someone who or something that bursts, breaks, or destroys a specified thing.
What is buster in Hindi?
Buster in Hindi is बस्टर, बसटर. See Buster meaning in Hindi.
How do you use buster in a sentence?
Each B-2 bomber is able to carry two of these “bunker buster” bombs, which weigh an impressive 30,000 pounds each.
What part of speech is buster?
Buster can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce buster?
Buster is pronounced /ˈbʌstɚ/ (US).
What is the plural of buster?
The plural of buster is busters.

Words near buster in the dictionary

  1. busted up
  2. busted valise
  3. busted valises
  4. bustee
  5. bustees
  6. buster
  7. Buster Brown
  8. Buster Brown suit
  9. Buster Brown suits
  10. Buster Browns
  11. buster collar

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: buster (page history and authors); Buster (page history and authors); buster (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); buster (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buster (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 buster.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-buster.wav.

Cite this entry: “buster.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/buster. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.