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Glite Dictionary
buy-and-bust operation

buy-and-bust operation

7.6
A police action in which officers pretend to buy illegal drugs to arrest sellers
  • noun
  • /ˈbaɪ ənd bʌst ˌɑːpəˈreɪʃən/
  • NSFW
translation icon : operación encubierta
  • The police carried out a buy-and-bust operation that led to several arrests in the city.

Examples

  • Many dealers were wary after hearing about last week's buy-and-bust operation.

  • During the buy-and-bust operation, the undercover officer posed as a potential buyer.

  • The police conducted a buy-and-bust operation last night.

  • Did the buy-and-bust operation succeed?

  • The police conducted a buy-and-bust operation to catch the seller of illegal drugs.

  • During the buy-and-bust operation, officers successfully arrested two drug dealers.

  • After months of surveillance, the team finally executed a buy-and-bust operation in a city park.

Synonyms

sting
vsbuy-and-bust operation
67 6.3

A hidden trick to catch or cheat people often run by police

is a police trick that specifically targets illegal drug sales by posing as customers
sting operation
vsbuy-and-bust operation
25 5.1

A secret police plan to trick people so they commit a crime and get arrested

poses as customers of illegal drugs to arrest the seller
drug bust
vsbuy-and-bust operation
  • NSFW
14 3.1

An occasion when police take illegal drugs and arrest people

targets the same sellers by arranging fake customer meetings to enable arrests
undercover operation
vsbuy-and-bust operation
10 5.0

Secret work by police or agents who hide their identity to gather evidence

uses a fake customer role to arrest someone selling illegal drugs
drugs bust
vsbuy-and-bust operation
  • NSFW
3.7

An event when police take illegal drugs and arrest people

focuses on catching sellers through secret customer setups rather than seizure

Surface Forms

buy-and-bust operation singular
buy-and-bust operations plural

Morphology

buy-and-bust + operation

The head noun 'operation' is transparent, but the hyphenated compound 'buy-and-bust' is specialised police jargon combining 'buy' and the slang sense of 'bust' (to arrest). A B1 learner who knows the literal words may partly infer an action involving buying and arresting, but the specific undercover sting meaning and the slang sense of 'bust' are not fully predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Buy-and-bust operation comes from a simple, literal scene: police pretend to buy illegal drugs and then bust the seller, where 'bust' means 'to arrest'. So the phrase now describes an undercover police action in which officers pose as buyers to catch and arrest drug sellers.