From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbust up phrasal verb informal1 RELATIONSHIP British English if people bust up, they end their relationship or friendship SYN break up They bust up after six years of marriage. → bust-up(1)2 bust something ↔ upPREVENT to prevent an illegal activity or bad situation from continuing SYN break up A couple of teachers stepped in to bust up the fight.3 bust something ↔ up American EnglishDAMAGE to damage or break something A bunch of bikers busted up the bar.4 American English to start laughing a lot SYN crack up Elaine busted up laughing at the sight of him. → bust→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
bust up• She said Gloria was always trying to bust up their conversations.bust-upˈbust-up noun [countable] informal 1 RELATIONSHIPthe end of a relationshipbust-up of the bust-up of their marriage → bust up at bust12 ARGUE British English a very bad quarrel or fight Cathy and I had a real bust-up yesterday.Examples from the Corpus
bust-up• Sold by Marseille chairman Bernard Tapie after bust-up at a charity match when he threw his shirt at the referee.• When parents refuse, there is either an almighty bust-up or a continuing groundswell of discontent that lasts for weeks.• Christie was involved in an angry bust-up with reporters and photographers outside the courtroom.• She and her boyfriend had a big bust-up over who was supposed to look after the kids.• His latest disciplinary bust-up has left senior Middlesex officials wondering whether they can ever tame the 22-year-old hothead.• But the big talking point was the first half bust-up involving the rivals managers and team officials.• Within sight of power, the group has had a public bust-up likely to reduce its appeal in the forthcoming election.• All that, and there's still the Baldwin love triangle and Jim and Gwen's bust-up to come.• Tony Snell was escorted from the Radio City premises in Liverpool after the breakfast show bust-up.• It was that bust-up which ruined team morale this season and contributed to Lancashire's desperately poor season.• After the bust-up, I didn't see Rick for several weeks.• the bust-up of their marriageFrom Longman Business Dictionarybust something → up phrasal verb [transitive] informal to break a unit such as a company or department into parts, or to end it completelyThe auto maker may have to bust up the finance unit or sharply limit the credit it extends to buyers and dealers. → bust→ See Verb tablebust-upˈbust-up noun [countable]1when a unit such as a company or department is broken into parts2journalism when people disagree stronglya boardroom bust-up, when the chief executive walked out after six weeks in the job 