busted

1. 1
   verb

   Past tense and past participle of bust.

   Her mother busted her sneaking back in through the window at 2 a.m.

   The dealer drew a ten and busted, so everyone still at the table won.

   Note

   One spelling does both jobs: simple past (the dealer busted) and past participle after have or be (the myth has been busted). The verb behind it ranges from breaking things, colloquial and US, through slang arrests to a blackjack hand that goes over 21, and the participle hardens into the "broken" adjective and the "caught" adjective.

2. 2
   brokenadjectiveslang

   In a broken state, damaged so that it is no longer whole or working.

   The landlord still hasn't fixed the busted heater in our apartment.

   A busted taillight got us pulled over twice in one week.

   Similarbroken, damaged, wrecked, kaput

   Oppositeworking, intact

   Note

   The slang sits happily before a noun, on the broken things of daily life: a busted heater, a busted taillight, a busted lock. Speech and texts welcome it; a repair request, an insurance claim or a formal complaint calls for broken or damaged instead.

3. 3
   caughtadjectiveslang

   Caught in the act while doing something one is not supposed to do.

   He had hidden the receipt, but the moment his wife saw the new golf clubs in the garage, he was busted.

   The two kids who had snuck into the theater knew they were busted the moment the usher turned on the lights.

   Similarcaught

   Note

   People usually say it straight to the culprit, half as a joke: You're busted! It describes the state of having been caught rather than the catching, and like most adjectives it can be graded. S. Bear Bergman savors the look on a man's face when he realized "how very busted" they were, a sight worth more than the fifty dollars paid for their dinner.

4. 4
   chest sizeadjective

   Having breasts or a bust of a particular kind, often with a word in front saying which kind.

   The costume department had to let out the bodice for a more generously busted actress.

   Fashion photos of the period favored tightly corseted, full-busted models.

   Similarbosomed

   Note

   The chest, not the verb, is behind this one: it is built on the noun bust and shares only a spelling with the slang adjectives, the "broken" meaning among them. A modifier usually comes first, hyphenated when it is an adjective (full-busted models) and open when it is an adverb (generously busted). Gwen White uses it even of felt dolls in lace brassieres, their fronts "slightly busted."

5. 5
   uglyadjectiveslang

   Extremely ugly in appearance.

   The profile picture was flattering, but the guy who showed up was honestly busted.

   She swore her face looked busted without makeup, but nobody else thought so.

   Similarugly, hideous

   Oppositeattractive, gorgeous

   Note

   The insult is aimed at people, and often at faces: her face is busted. Said of an object, the word falls back to plain "broken", so a busted lamp is damaged, not ugly. It lives in casual talk and online chatter, and said to someone directly it is plainly rude.

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