The word bust has several meanings:

1. To break something forcefully, often suddenly. When a water balloon busts on impact, it explodes and splashes everywhere. Police might bust down a door during a raid. You might say your headphones are busted when they stop working after you accidentally sat on them.
2. To catch someone doing something wrong. Teachers might bust a student passing notes in class, or parents might bust their kids sneaking cookies before dinner. When you get busted, you're caught in the act.
3. A sculpture of someone's head, shoulders, and chest. Museums display marble busts of famous historical figures like Julius Caesar or Abraham Lincoln. These sculptures show what someone looked like from the chest up, capturing their face and upper body in stone or bronze.
4. In finance, when something goes bust, it fails completely. A business that goes bust runs out of money and has to close. This meaning connects to the breaking sense: the business has broken down or fallen apart.

The word often suggests something sudden and dramatic: a balloon doesn't gradually deflate, it busts. Getting busted isn't a gentle reminder, it's being caught in the act.