Word.ws English Dictionary

busts

/bʌsts/

busts is the plural of bust.

busts is the third-person singular simple present indicative of bust.

Meaning of bust

Noun

bust (plural busts)

  1. (slang) The act of arresting someone for a crime, or raiding a suspected criminal operation.
    • a narcotics bust
  2. (slang) A police raid or takedown of a criminal enterprise.
  3. (slang) A failed enterprise; a bomb.
  4. (slang) A refutation of an opening, or of a previously published analysis.
  5. (slang) A disappointment.
    • Paris was a bust. They wouldn't even let us see the Mona Lisa.2014 November 2, “Opposites A-Frack”, in The Simpsons, season 26, episode 5
  6. (derogatory) A player who fails to meet expectations.

See all 28 meanings of bust

Phrases with busts

14 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with busts

Questions about busts

What is busts the plural of?
Busts is the plural of bust.
How do you pronounce busts?
Busts is pronounced /bʌsts/.

Words near busts in the dictionary

  1. Buston
  2. bustos
  3. Bustoses
  4. bustrophedon
  5. bustrophedons
  6. busts
  7. busts a cap
  8. busts a gut
  9. busts a move
  10. busts a nut
  11. busts a U

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: busts (page history and authors); bust (page history and authors). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-busts.wav.

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