Word.ws English Dictionary

or bust

/ɔː ˈbʌst/US/ɔɹ ˈbʌst/

or bust phrase: used to indicate one's intention to do everything possible to achieve a goal, with failure being the only alternative.

Phrase

or bust

  1. (US, informal) Used to indicate one's intention to do everything possible to achieve a goal, with failure being the only alternative.
    • Nearly half a lifetime I have lived in Laramie, with all the while a great longing to see the wonders of the Yellowstone— [...] so when the boys wrote along the wagon top "Park or Bust," that settled it, and we started July 4th, 1903.1905 June 29, N. E. Corthell, “A Family Trek to the Yellowstone”, in Henry Chandler Bowen, editor, The Independent, volume LVIII, number 2952, New York, N.Y.: The Independent, […], →OCLC, page 1460...
    • Mr. [William Jennings] Bryan recognizes that he must win New York—"or bust." He went there straight from Des Moines and had a three-hour conference with the local leaders.1908 September 12, “Campaign Topics”, in Alfred Holman, editor, The Argonaut, volume LXIII, number 1642, San Francisco, Calif.: Argonaut Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 399, column 2

Examples of or bust in a sentence

  • We painted the back of the Model A in white letters "SDSC or Bust".2014 April 2, Delane Quiver Boyer, “SDSC or Bust”, in Path Chosen: Life of a Lakota: Mi Lakota Yelo, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN...
  • For scores of African migrants, it's a case of "Europe or bust", no matter what Moroccan authorities throw at them in the way of detentions and being bussed hundreds of kilometres away.2018 October 25, “‘Europe or Bust’ Migrants Undeterred in Morocco”, in France 24, archived from the original on 25 Oct 2018:

Origin of or bust

Indicating that the only alternative to what is being attempted is a bust (“(slang) failed enterprise; bomb”).

Words formed from or bust

Questions about or bust

What does or bust mean?
Or bust means used to indicate one's intention to do everything possible to achieve a goal, with failure being the only alternative.
How do you use or bust in a sentence?
We painted the back of the Model A in white letters "SDSC or Bust".
What part of speech is or bust?
Or bust is a phrase.
How do you pronounce or bust?
Or bust is pronounced /ɔː ˈbʌst/ (UK).

Words near or bust in the dictionary

  1. Oquendo
  2. Oquendos
  3. Oquirrh
  4. or
  5. or anything
  6. or bust
  7. or else
  8. OR gate
  9. OR gates
  10. or hor
  11. or it didn't happen

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: or 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-or bust.oga.

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