buster
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See also: Buster
Englisch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Originally a dialectal variant of burster; later influenced by bust + -er.[1]
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.[2]
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file) Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ʌstə(ɹ)
Nomen
[edit]buster (plural busters)
- (chiefly colloquial, with 'of') Someone who or something that bursts, breaks, or destroys a specified thing.
- (chiefly military slang) Forming compounds denoting a team, weapon, or device specialized in the destruction of the first element.
- 1940 September 2, Life, 29/1:
- German ‘balloon busters’ attack the Dover barrage.
- 1958 February 10, Life, section 70:
- Our main purpose in further experimentation with nuclear bombs is not... to make city-busters more horrible.
- (chiefly colloquial, with 'of') Someone who or something that 'breaks', tames, or overpowers a specified person oder thing.
- (US, in particular, dated, slang) A broncobuster.
- 1891 July, Harper's Magazine, 208/2:
- The buster must be careful to keep well away from sheds and timber.
- 1964, John Hendrix, If I Can Do It Horseback: A Cow-Country Sketchbook, page 40:
- Some busters caught their horses for the first time over the head, and snubbed or choked them until they fell gasping.
- (chiefly law enforcement slang) Forming compounds denoting an agent or agency tasked with reducing or eliminating the first element.
- 1920, F. A. McKenzie, ‘Pussyfoot’ Johnson, v. 83:
- Men nicknamed him the ‘Booze Buster’, and cartoonists loved to picture him, revolver in hand,... fighting the demon rum.
- 1974 July 4, New Scientist, 65/2:
- The professional fraud-busters [of the art world].
- 1984 November 18, Times, N.Y, iv. 24/2:
- New York City traffic agents have become Gridlock Busters and cigarette foes are smokebusters.
- 1920, F. A. McKenzie, ‘Pussyfoot’ Johnson, v. 83:
- (US, in particular, dated, slang) A broncobuster.
- (dated, slang) Someone oder something remarkable, especially for being loud, large, etc..
- 1833 April, Parthenon, section 293:
- ‘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.’
- 2004 November 20, South Wales Echo, section 9:
- What a buster of a lunch it turned out to be.
- (colloquial, variously expressing familiarity, admiration, or hostility) A form of address, particularly of men: guy, dude, fella, mack, buddy, loser. (Originally as 'old buster'.)
- 1838 March 24, New Yorker, 4/1:
- That's generous, old buster.
- 1919, P.G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves, section 79:
- An extremely wealthy old buster.
- 1986 February 27, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):
- Calvin: I'm going to watch TV all night.
Mom: That's what you think, buster!
- 2001, S. MacKay, Fall Guy, ix. 113:
- ‘Careful, buster,’ she said. ‘I've got a knife in my hand.’
- (obsolete, slang) A loaf of bread.
- 1835 September 16, Morning Post, 4/2:
- Three penny busters, and a whole kit-full of winegar and mustard.
- 1904 June 8, Journal of the Department of Labour, New Zealand, section 536:
- An 8oz. loaf of brown bread... goes by the name of ‘buster’, I suppose on account of the way they blow you out.
- (obsolete, slang) A drinking spree, a binge.
- 1848, John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms:
- They were on a buster, and were taken up by the police.
- 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 14: Oxen of the Sun]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 405:
- All off for a buster, armstrong, hollering down the street.
- (dated, slang) A gale, a strong wind; (especially Australia) a southerly buster.
- 1848, John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms:
- ‘This is a buster,’ i.e. a powerful or heavy wind.
- 1991, J. Moore, By Way of Wind, section 121:
- When the barometer drops rapidly... watch out for a strong sou'wester. A buster can be on you in a flash.
- (Australia and New Zealand) A heavy fall; (also performing arts) a staged fall, a pratfall.
- 1874 April, Baily's Monthly Magazine, section 114:
- Dainty... came down ‘a buster’ at the last hurdle, and Scots Grey cantered in by himself.
- (US, regional) A molting crab.
- 1855 October 18, Henry A. Wise, letter in J.P. Hambleton's Biographical Sketch of Henry A. Wise (1856), 448:
- In that state he is called a ‘Buster’, bursting his shell.
- 2002 January 6, Times, N.Y, v. 4/6:
- Restaurant August... serves contemporary French cuisine prepared with Louisiana ingredients like buster crabs, shrimp and oysters.
- 1855 October 18, Henry A. Wise, letter in J.P. Hambleton's Biographical Sketch of Henry A. Wise (1856), 448:
- (gambling, slang) A cheat's die whose sides bear only certain combinations of spots, so that undesirable values can never be rolled.
- 1961, John Scarne, Complete Guide to Gambling, page 283:
- Tops and Bottoms (also Tops, Busters, Ts, Mis-spots): These are the dice used by the professional cheats.
- 1977, National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, The Development of the Law of Gambling: 1776-1976, page 423:
- To make six-eight, natural dice, or busters, he would take unspotted dice and then grind and color only the spots he wanted.
Derived terms
[edit]buster
Derived terms
[edit]- 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
[edit]person or thing that breaks or overwhelms
|
guy, friend
loser, uncool person
|
References
[edit]- “buster”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
[edit]Dänisch
[edit]Nomen
[edit]buster
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