or bust

idiom

informal

—used to say that one will do everything possible to get somewhere

The sign on the car said "New Orleans or bust!"

Examples of or bust in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Eagles' offensive coordinator position in the Sirianni-Hurts era has been the ultimate boom or bust job. —Tom Ignudo, CBS News, 29 Jan. 2026

Allen’s performance was boom or bust, as every Buffalo drive ended in either a score or a turnover. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 18 Jan. 2026

And after dedicating much of the past 20 years to speedskating — after moving to Salt Lake City to train six years ago and after deciding that these Milan Cortina Winter Olympics would be his last, gold or bust — Lehman wanted to earn it. —Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 10 Jan. 2026

The oil business is admittedly Dickensian - a tale of two cities, boom or bust, but global energy demands continue to increase, and not all of that demand can be satisfied with renewables. —Michael Khouw, CNBC, 18 Dec. 2025

Failliet is a slang Dutch term that translates as ‘bankrupt’ so the name loosely means ‘finesse or bust’. —Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2025

Boom or bust to finish the season? —Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025

Oats also made a bet on Bethea after the former five-star underwhelmed on a bad Miami team, and that could go boom or bust. —Cj Moore, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025

Seven-day workweeks or bust for these entrepreneurs. —Jason Del Rey, Fortune, 12 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for or bust

• adjust
• combust
• discussed
• disgust
• distrust
• entrust
• intrust
• mistrust
• nonplussed
• robust
• sawdust
• stardust