gangbuster


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gang·bus·ter

 (găng′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.
Idiom:
like gangbusters Slang
With great impact, vigor, or zeal: came on like gangbusters at the start of his campaign; a career that took off like gangbusters.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gangbuster

(ˈɡæŋˌbʌstə)
n
1. (Law) an officer of the law who specializes in detecting and breaking up criminal organizations, often forcefully or violently
2. a success; hit
adj
3. extremely successful; fantastic
4. (of a person) driven; determined
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gang•bust•er

(ˈgæŋˌbʌs tər)

n. Informal.
1. a law-enforcement officer who specializes in breaking up gangs of criminals.
2. gangbusters, an outstandingly successful state.
adj.
3. strikingly effective or successful: a gangbusters year for compact cars.
4. enthusiastic: to be gangbusters over an idea.
Idioms:
like gangbusters, with vigor and speed.
Often, gangbusters.
[1935–40]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
In effect, the net purchase for the May to November 26 period has been a gravity- defying ` 38,223 crore, with May being the month that saw gangbuster flows of ` 11,802 crore, essentially on the expectation that a Modi government will come in.
Together, they were doing gangbuster business until their arrests in February.
Our judges - led by Lord Jack McConnell - included Donald MacNeil, of bed giants and our title sponsors Dreams, acclaimed gangbuster Karyn McCluskey and co-founder of Colours modelling agency Rosalynd Ramage.
The good news is that space is being absorbed Downtown--156,409 s/f in May after a gangbuster April when nearly 600,000 s/f were absorbed--with less than 200,000 s/f coming back on the market so far in 2005.
Other groups opposing the Gangbuster Bill include civil rights groups like the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch.
Turns out that while they did gangbuster business last December, your Wal-Marts and Targets--the low end of the U.S.
The '97, remember, was a gangbuster vintage, and is delightful at first taste.
''This holiday season is not going to be a gangbuster,'' said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist of Sterne Agee.
The nation needs more organisations like the Violence Reduction Unit, headed up by inspirational gangbuster Karyn McCluskey.
Gangbuster Karyn McCluskey has also voiced support for Joyce's campaign.
However, he predicts that even poison ivy's gangbuster growth will eventually hit some limit, such as available sunlight.
Mr Watts said US demand had gone "absolutely gangbuster".