a sculpture of the head and shoulders of a person
"The artist spent months carving a detailed bust of the historical figure from marble."
A sculptural portrayal of a person's head and shoulders.
"Police executed a bust on the illegal drug ring at dawn."
The act of arresting someone for a crime, or raiding a suspected criminal operation.
In plain English: A bust is an unfinished sculpture of just someone's head and shoulders that sits on top of their body.
"The police raided his apartment and found drugs in a bust that shocked the whole neighborhood."
Usage: Use "bust" as a noun to describe the police action of raiding a location to arrest suspects, such as in "a drug bust." Do not confuse this meaning with the sculptural representation of a head or shoulders when discussing art.
go to pieces
"The lawn mower finally broke"
"The gears wore out"
"The old chair finally fell apart completely"
To break.
"The heavy blow caused his jaw to bust open."
Without any money, broke, bankrupt.
"After losing his job and spending all his savings on lottery tickets, he was completely bust."
In plain English: Bust means something that is broken, damaged, or not working properly anymore.
"He was busted for speeding yesterday."
The word "bust" comes from the Middle English word busten, which was a variant of bursten meaning "to burst." It shares this original sense with related words in Low German and modern English like "burst."