Synonyms for bust

Most common

wear · wear out · fall apart · nick · burst

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

Noun

Definitions

1. v. 1

   To break.

   I busted my cooker while trying to fix it.

2. v. 2

   To arrest (someone or a group of people) for a crime.

   Aaron got busted by the feds for leaking confidential government documents on Reddit.

3. n. 1

   The act of arresting someone for a crime, or raiding a suspected criminal operation.

4. n. 2

   A police raid or takedown of a criminal enterprise.

Related words

Word family

buster busty

Phrases

bust one's ass bust a nut bust one's butt bust one's balls go bust bust a move bust down bust one's neck

Forms

Plural

busts → flops, fizzles, binges, bouts…

Past participle

busted
e.g. busted → breaked, weared, failed, snapped…

Example sentences

• wear It was cold last night, yet he didn't wear a coat.
• nick Tom got to the airport just in the nick of time.
• burst When she saw her test score, she burst into tears.

Popularity over time

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters

bag¹, nab¹

4 letters

wear¹, fail¹, nick¹, tear¹, snap¹, raid¹, bout¹, flop¹

5 letters

break¹, burst¹, pinch¹, binge¹

6 letters

figure², breast¹, fizzle²

7 letters

rupture²

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (figure² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français

pincer

Italiano

pizzicare

Español

pinchar

Deutsch

zupfen

Català

pessigar