bust
noun [ C ]
ECONOMICS, FINANCE uk/bʌst/ usa period of slow economic activity and lack of growth:
Each of the previous booms in real house prices was followed by a bust.
Employment soared during the 90s, only to plunge by nearly a third in the bust.
the dot-com/housing/oil bust
Compare
boom noun
informal
a failure:
Our attempt to start a new company was a complete bust.
See also
boom and bust
bust
adjective
FINANCE informal uk/bʌst/ usgo bust
if a company goes bust, it is forced to close because it is financially unsuccessful:
He believes that banks should be allowed to go bust.
A thousand employees lost their jobs when the company went bust.