Link Centre Dictionary

buster

bus·ter

UK/ˈbʌstə/ US/ˈbʌstɚ/ fairly common slang us

noun

1.

an informal form of address for a man

  • “Say, fellow, what are you doing?”
  • “Hey buster, what”
Synonyms
2.
3.

a person who breaks horses

Synonyms
4.

a person (or thing) that breaks up or overpowers something

  • “dam buster”
  • “sanction buster”
  • “crime buster”
5.

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • belly buster
  • bronco buster
  • bunker buster
  • bust-out man
  • come a buster
  • crime buster
  • dust buster
  • fisherman buster

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.