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gangbuster
[ gang-buhs-ter ]
noun
- a law-enforcement officer who specializes in breaking up organized crime, often by forceful or sensational means.
- someone or something having great impact, usually in a positive way.
- gangbusters, an outstandingly successful state or situation:
We aren't looking for gangbusters, but we'd like you to pass all your subjects this semester.
adjective
- of or like a law-enforcement officer who uses rough, aggressive, or sensational tactics in fighting crime:
The undercover agents avoided the gangbusters approach.
- strikingly effective or successful:
a gangbusters year for compact cars.
- enthusiastic:
I'm not gangbusters over the idea.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of gangbuster1
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Idioms and Phrases
- go gangbusters, to be extremely successful:
The movie went gangbusters.
- like gangbusters, with great speed, intensity, vigor, impact, or success:
The software market was growing like gangbusters. The hockey team came on at the beginning of the season like gangbusters.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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