to bust a cap
10
9.9
- idiom
- Offensive
:
pegar un tiro a alguien
- Give it up, or I'll bust a cap in your ass!
- bust a cap in your ass
- just bust a cap
- gonna bust a cap
Examples
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Step back unless you want me to bust a cap in your ass.
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No, I would never bust a cap in your ass.
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Should have busted a cap in his ass.
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I will bust a cap in that ass!
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We'll bust a cap in his ass.
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You ever had to bust a cap in anybody's ass?
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- You're gonna bust a cap in my ass?
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Get on the floor, too, Gandalf, or I will bust a cap in your ass.
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"Freeze, mofo, before I bust a cap in your dome.”
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Step back unless you want me to bust a cap in your ass.
Synonyms
52
7.4
To shoot someone, often causing serious harm or death
How Violent
Surface Forms
Morphology
bust + a + cap
The literal meanings of 'bust' (to break or damage) and 'cap' (a hat or cover) do not predict the violent sense 'to shoot someone'; the slang usage of 'cap' meaning 'shoot' is idiomatic and not compositional. Because this is a slang, idiomatic expression whose overall meaning cannot be derived from the parts and requires prior exposure, it would be opaque to a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Bust a cap comes from the image of bust meaning 'break' and cap meaning the small part that makes a gun fire. So, to bust a cap came to mean 'to shoot' someone with a gun.