block·bust·er

[blok-buhs-ter]
noun
1.
an aerial bomb containing high explosives and weighing from four to eight tons, used as a large-scale demolition bomb.
2.
a motion picture, novel, etc., especially one lavishly produced, that has or is expected to have wide popular appeal or financial success.
3.
something or someone that is forcefully or overwhelmingly impressive, effective, or influential: The campaign was a blockbuster.
4.
a real-estate speculator who practices blockbusting.

Origin:
1940–45; block + buster
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Blockbuster is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Collins
World English Dictionary
blockbuster (ˈblɒkˌbʌstə)
 
n
1.  a large bomb used to demolish extensive areas or strengthened targets
2.  a very successful, effective, or forceful person, thing, etc
3.  a lavish film, show, novel, etc, that proves to be an outstanding popular success

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

blockbuster
big bomb (4,000 pounds or larger, according to some sources), 1942, from block in the "built-up city square" sense. Entertainment sense is attested from 1957.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

blockbuster definition


  1. n.
    something enormous, especially a movie or book that attracts a large audience. : That blockbuster should make about twenty million.
  2. mod.
    exciting and successful. : With a blockbuster novel like that in print, you should make quite a bundle.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
Add talking robots to the mix, and you've got yourself a surefire blockbuster.
The news isn't blockbuster, but it's consistently positive and improving.
Everincreasing choice was supposed to mean the end of the blockbuster.
Paramount had bought a blockbuster cheap, but the studio bosses didn't want to
  make the movie.
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