bust someone's balls

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

bust someone's balls (third-person singular simple present busts someone's balls, present participle busting someone's balls, simple past and past participle busted someone's balls)

1. (slang, vulgar) To give someone a hard time, whether by playfully teasing or sincerely harassing them.
   • 1990, Goodfellas:

     Henry: All day long I thought the guys in the helicopter were just local cops busting my balls over Lufthansa. But they turned out to be narcs.

Synonyms

• break someone's balls

Related terms

• bust one's balls

Translations

to give someone a hard time

• Catalan: tocar els collons, tocar els nassos
• French: ^{(please verify)} briser les couilles (fr), ^{(please verify)} les briser (fr), ^{(please verify)} casser les couilles (fr), ^{(please verify)} les casser (fr)
• Greek: πρήζω τ' αρχίδια (el) (prízo t' archídia)
• Italian: rompere i coglioni, rompere le palle, rompere le scatole (euphemistic)