Meanings
present singular third person busts a move · participle present busting a move · participle past busted a move · past busted a move
- idiomatictransitiveAfrican-American VernacularTo initiate an action, such as a departure, attack, etc.
It's time to go. Let's bust a move.
1 more example
What you looking at me like that for? C'mon man, bust a move if you're feeling froggy.
Synonyms: get in gear, hit the road, make a move
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo dance.
verbTo initiate an action, such as a departure, attack, etc.
Origin
Ellipsis of bust out a move (“break out a move”), in reference to unveiling or demonstrating a move from one's repertoire of dance moves. The original usage of this phrase is "to dance." The term appeared in the 1986 song “Posse in Effect” by Beastie Boys, in which M.C.A. said “Pay attention, my intention is to bust a move.” It was then popularized in the 1989 single of the same name by rapper Young MC, who tells (in the song) of his several attempts to find (or seduce) a woman in various places and failing to be able to do so because he can't dance; he isn't able to "bust a move."
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with bust a move
All rhymes →Cite this entry
bust a move. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bust%20a%20move
“bust a move.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bust%20a%20move. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bust a move,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bust%20a%20move.
Source: bust a move on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.