buster

Meaning

Noun

• Someone who or something that bursts, breaks, or destroys a specified thing.
• Someone who or something that 'breaks', tames, or overpowers a specified person or thing.
• Someone or something remarkable, especially for being loud, large, etc..
• A loaf of bread.
• A drinking spree, a binge.
• A gale, a strong wind; a southerly buster.
• A heavy fall; a staged fall, a pratfall.
• A molting crab.
• A cheat's die whose sides bear only certain combinations of spots, so that undesirable values can never be rolled.

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.