buster
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: gambling
games
government
law-enforcement
military
politics
war
Etymology: 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.
Base: bust
Affixes: -er
Inflected forms:
form: busters
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Someone who or something that bursts, breaks, or destroys a specified thing.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
examples: Now death, I pray thee what is it, but a buster of bonds; a destruction of toyle?
Rothlin was described... by the papers as the buster of the bandit ring.
gloss: Forming compounds denoting a team, weapon, or device specialized in the destruction of the first element.
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: German ‘balloon busters’ attack the Dover barrage.
Our main purpose in further experimentation with nuclear bombs is not... to make city-busters more horrible.
B-2 bombers are the only plane capable of carrying the Massive Ordinance Penetrator, which experts have highlighted as the only type of bomb potentially capable of destroying Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility. Each B-2 bomber is able to carry two of these “bunker buster” bombs, which weigh an impressive 30,000 pounds each.
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.
gloss: Someone who or something that 'breaks', tames, or overpowers a specified person or thing.
pos: noun
tags: US
colloquial
dated
slang
examples: The buster must be careful to keep well away from sheds and timber.
Some busters caught their horses for the first time over the head, and snubbed or choked them until they fell gasping.
gloss: Someone who or something that 'breaks', tames, or overpowers a specified person or thing.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
slang
examples: Men nicknamed him the ‘Booze Buster’, and cartoonists loved to picture him, revolver in hand,... fighting the demon rum.
The professional fraud-busters [of the art world].
New York City traffic agents have become Gridlock Busters and cigarette foes are smokebusters.
gloss: Someone or something remarkable, especially for being loud, large, etc.
pos: noun
tags: dated
slang
examples: ‘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.’
What a buster of a lunch it turned out to be.
gloss: Someone or something remarkable, especially for being loud, large, etc.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
dated
slang
examples: That's generous, old buster.
An extremely wealthy old buster.
Calvin: I'm going to watch TV all night.
Mom: That's what you think, buster!
‘Careful, buster,’ she said. ‘I've got a knife in my hand.’
gloss: A loaf of bread.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
slang
examples: Three penny busters, and a whole kit-full of winegar and mustard.
An 8oz. loaf of brown bread... goes by the name of ‘buster’, I suppose on account of the way they blow you out.
gloss: A drinking spree, a binge.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
slang
examples: They were on a buster, and were taken up by the police.
All off for a buster, armstrong, hollering down the street.
gloss: A gale, a strong wind; (especially Australia) a southerly buster.
pos: noun
tags: dated
slang
examples: ‘This is a buster,’ i.e. a powerful or heavy wind.
The Buster and Brickfielder: austral red-dust blizzard and red-hot Simoom.
When the barometer drops rapidly... watch out for a strong sou'wester. A buster can be on you in a flash.
gloss: A heavy fall; (also performing arts) a staged fall, a pratfall.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
New-Zealand
examples: Dainty... came down ‘a buster’ at the last hurdle, and Scots Grey cantered in by himself.
gloss: A molting crab.
pos: noun
tags: US
regional
examples: In that state he is called a ‘Buster’, bursting his shell.
Restaurant August... serves contemporary French cuisine prepared with Louisiana ingredients like buster crabs, shrimp and oysters.
gloss: A cheat's die whose sides bear only certain combinations of spots, so that undesirable values can never be rolled.
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: Tops and Bottoms (also Tops, Busters, Ts, Mis-spots): These are the dice used by the professional cheats.
To make six-eight, natural dice, or busters, he would take unspotted dice and then grind and color only the spots he wanted.
Derived words: ballbuster
ball-buster
balloon-buster
belly-buster
belly buster
blockbuster
block-buster
booze-buster
brainbuster
brick-buster
broncobuster
bronco-buster
bronco buster
bunker buster
bust-out man
chartbuster
cloudbuster
come a buster
crime buster
crime-buster
crimebuster
cultbuster
dam-buster
dambuster
doorbuster
drugbuster
dustbuster
dust buster
facebuster
fisherman buster
fort-buster
gangbuster
gangbusters
ghostbuster
gutbuster
have a buster
knuckle-buster
middlebuster
mythbuster
old buster
price buster
quackbuster
racketbuster
ratebuster
rate-buster
rodbuster
rust-buster
scud-buster
ship-buster
skull-buster
slumpbuster
sodbuster
spinebuster
stressbuster
stubble buster
swampbuster
tankbuster
thirst-buster
trustbuster
unionbuster
Translations:
lang: Catalan
word: rebenta-
lang: German
word: Brecher
lang: German
word: Aufbrecher
lang: German
word: Knacker
lang: German
word: Zersprenger