Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Blockbuster |
BlockbusterNoun1. A large bomb used to demolish extensive areas. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Blockbuster was the name of the largest conventional bomb used in World War II by the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force. Each blockbuster had the explosive force of twenty thousand tons of TNT. The name was given because a "Blockbuster" was capable of destroying an entire city block.
Blockbuster later came into use as a phrase denoting an expensively produced motion picture or play which was expected to be a box-office "smash". (This is an example of theater slang that often talks about success in violent metaphors, the idea being that all competing theaters on the block would be "busted".) Later it came to indicate any particularly financially sucessful film. In the mid-1970s, following the hugely successful release of Steven Spielberg's Jaws, much of Hollywood's focus was on creating films with similarly wide appeal, a development that spawned the so-called "blockbuster mentality" that continues to affect the motion picture industry. More loosely, any big budget Hollywood movie with famous stars are likely to be called a "blockbuster".
Blockbuster Video is biggest chain of video tape and DVD rental shops in North America. It has been equally successful in other countries. See main article for details.
Blockbusters was also the name of an NBC daytime quiz show, broadcast from 1980 to 1982.
The ITV children's quiz show of the same name, broadcast from 1983 - 1993, followed the same format. It was presented by Bob Holness.
See also: DVD rental, Hollywood movie
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Blockbuster."
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Maybe you got my Blockbuster card (Fastlane; writing credit: Josh Appelbaum; Kevin G. Boyd) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The 2002 Blockbuster Hollywood Christmas Spectacular (2002) 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2001) Blockbuster Entertainment (2001) | |
Song Titles | Blockbuster (performing artist: The Sweet) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Argentina | Significant U.S. market players include McDonald's, Burger King, Blockbuster, Kodak Express, and Holiday Inn. (references) |
Costa Rica | Payless ShoeSource, Comfort Inn, TGI Friday's, Blockbuster Video, Haagen-Dazs and Outback Steakhouse are the latest arrivals to the Central Valley. (references) | |
Ecuador | Several U.S. franchise chains are now operating in Ecuador, including Tricon (Pizza Hut/Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell), Burger King, McDonalds, Domino's Pizza, and Blockbuster Video. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Blockbuster" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 94.69% of the time. "Blockbuster" is used about 113 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 94.69% | 107 | 31,463 |
| Noun (proper) | 5.31% | 6 | 143,867 |
| Total | 100.00% | 113 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| USA | Blockbuster Incorporated |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "blockbuster": ibm-blockbuster, Virgin-blockbuster. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "blockbuster"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Chinese | 巨型炸弹. (various references) | |
Czech | trhák, hit (hit, hit song). (various references) | |
Farsi | شخص یاچیزخیلی موثروسخت , بمب دارای قدرت تخریبی زیاد. (various references) | |
French | blockbuster, médicament vedette. (various references) | |
German | Minenbombe, knüller (big hit, hit, scoop, sensation), kinohit, große bombe. (various references) | |
Greek | ταινία που σπάει τα ταμεία. (various references) | |
Hungarian | bombasiker (smash hit), bestseller, rendkívül sikeres mű, légibomba. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | ブローチ盤 (bloc, block, blocker, blocking, blocking signal, broaching machine, broadcast, broadcloth, Broadway, brocade, broiler, Brownie, Browning). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ブロックバスター . (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ockbusterblay.(various references) | |
Turkish | uçak bombası, çok etkili şey. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "blockbuster": blockbusters. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "blockbuster" (pronounced blÄ"kbu'ster) |
| 5 | -b u' s t er | filibuster, gangbuster. |
| 4 | -u' s t er | lackluster. |
| 3 | -s t er | dumpster, duster, Easter, adjuster, administer, alabaster, ancestor, aster, banister, bannister, barrister, blaster, blister, bluster, bolster, booster, broadcaster, burgomaster, Buster, canister, cannister, caster, Castor, cloister, cluster, coaster, concertmaster, coster, Dempster, Dexter, digester, disaster, ester, faster, Feaster, fester, fluster, forecaster, Forester, Foster, gangster, Gaster, grandmaster, hamster, harvester, headmaster, heister, holster, huckster, imposter, impostor, investor, jester, juster, keister, kiester, laster, Leister, Lister, lobster, Luster, lustre, master, minister, Minster, Mister, mobster, molester, monster, muenster, Munster, muster, nester, Nestor, newscaster, oldster, oleaster, ouster, oyster, paster, pastor, pester, pilaster, plaster, pollster, polyester, poster, postmaster, prankster, protester, quartermaster, raster, register, requester, rester, ringmaster, roadster, roaster, roister, rooster, roster, royster, schoolmaster, scoutmaster, seamster, semester, sequester, shyster, sinister, sister, spinster, sportscaster, stepsister, taskmaster, taster, teamster, tester, thruster, tipster, toaster, toastmaster, transistor, trickster, trimester, twister, Ulster, upholster, waster, Webster, Wester, youngster, zoster. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-b-c-e-k-l-o-r-s-t-u" | |
-3 letters: blesbuck, blockers, brockets, bucklers, clobbers, clotures, clouters, clubbers, cobblers, coulters, roebucks, subblock, subclerk, troubles, truckles. | |
-4 letters: becrust, becurst, bescour, blesbok, blocker, bluster, boletus, bolster, bolters, boucles, brocket, brulots, buckers, buckets, buckler, buckles, buckoes, burbles, burbots, burlesk, butlers, clobber, closure, cloture, clouter, clubber, cluster, cobbers, cobbler, cobbles, colters, colures, corbels, corslet, costrel, coulter. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-b-c-e-k-l-o-r-s-t-u" | |
+1 letter: blockbusters. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
