# bust

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈbʌst/ · frequency rank #6,662

## Definitions
1. To break.
2. To arrest (someone or a group of people) for a crime.
3. To catch (someone) in the act of doing something wrong, socially and morally inappropriate, or illegal, especially when being done in a sneaky or secretive state.
4. To debunk, dispel (a belief).
5. An emphatic synonym of do or get.
6. To reduce in rank.
7. To undo a trade, generally an error trade, that has already been executed.
8. To lose all of one's chips.
9. To exceed a score of 21.
10. To break in (an animal).
11. To break in (a woman or girl), to deflower
12. To ejaculate; to eject semen or to squirt.
13. For a headline to exceed the amount of space reserved for it.
14. To refute an established opening.
15. To shoot (a gun).
16. To attack, hit or insult (someone).
17. To do or perform; to move quickly.

## Etymology
From Middle English busten, a variant of bursten, bresten (“to burst”). Compare Low German basten, a variant of barsten (“to burst”). Cognate with burst and bost.

## Easily confused with
- **but** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-but)
- **buy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-buy)
- **busy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-busy)
- **butt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-butt)
- **buzz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-buzz)
- **buys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-buys)
- **bute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-bute)
- **butts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-butts)
- **busts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-busts)
- **butte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-butte)
- **busty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-busty)
- **busta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-busta)
- **busted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-busted)
- **buster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-buster)
- **bustle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bust-vs-bustle)
- **BS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bs-vs-bust)
- **Bt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bt-vs-bust)
- **bit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bit-vs-bust)
- **bus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bus-vs-bust)
- **bet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bet-vs-bust)

## Common misspellings (6)
`bbust`, `bsut`, `busst`, `bustt`, `buts`, `ubst`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bust