[gang-buhs-ter] 
| 1. | a law-enforcement officer who specializes in breaking up organized crime, often by forceful or sensational means. |
| 2. | someone or something having great impact, usually in a positive way. |
| 3. | 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. |
| 4. | of or like a law-enforcement officer who uses rough, aggressive, or sensational tactics in fighting crime: The undercover agents avoided the gangbusters approach. |
| 5. | strikingly effective or successful: a gangbusters year for compact cars. |
| 6. | enthusiastic: I'm not gangbusters over the idea. |
| 7. | go gangbusters, to be extremely successful: The movie went gangbusters. |
| 8. | 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. |
| gang·bus·ter (gāng'bŭs'tər) n. Slang A law enforcement officer who works to break up organized criminal groups. adj. also gangbusters Extremely successful: an experiment yielding gangbuster results; a profitable, gangbusters quarter. |
like gangbusters
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like gangbusters
Energetically, forcefully, loudly. For example, This is a soft passage
the horns shouldn't come in like gangbusters. This expression alludes to a popular radio series entitled Gangbusters, which featured explosive sound effects, such as gunfire and sirens, at the beginning of each episode. [Slang; late 1930s]
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