Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US Und.) a thief who grabs his victim by the testicles while his accomplice takes his wallet.

1989

J. Morton Lowspeak.

2. (orig. US, also balls buster) a nagging woman.

1974		(con. 1960s) R. Price Wanderers 227: ‘I tried to tell my ol' lady but she’s a real ball-buster about that shit, because she thinks my ol’ man bangs anything that moves’.
1978		S. Longstreet Straw Boss (1979) 278: All dames are balls busters.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak 18: Ballbuster – a woman who deprives a man of his virility.
1998		I. Welsh Filth 97: This hoor is an A1 baw-buster.
2003		G. Tate Midnight Lightning 55: Feminist author and activist Germaine Greer, reviled as a cliché pro-femme ballbuster in her time.

3. (US campus) a notably hard course or examination.

1954		J.A. Weingarten Amer. Dict. Sl. 15/1: Ball-buster [...] a task that is difficult or annoying.
1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 266: I wrote my own questions . . . Ball busters, too.

4. any overbearingly unpleasant person or circumstances.

1954		J.A. Weingarten Amer. Dict. Sl. 15/1: Ball-buster [...] A person who repeatedly annoys one or assigns difficult tasks.
1967		L. Bruce Essential Lenny Bruce 66: stevenson! that bawlbustuh!
1974		(con. 1960s) R. Price Wanderers 173: Chubby Galasso was a big fat ball-buster who didn’t want to know.
1976		(con. 1969) C.R. Anderson Grunts 94: That could have been an enjoyable little hump but it turns out to be another ball-buster.
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 115: Stanley and Tommy got so carried away with the ball buster that they killed the guy.
1987		(con. c.1967) J. Ferrandino Firefight 16: It’s a real ballbuster. If you think you’re tired now, wait until we get ready to set up.
1991		B. Hamper Rivethead (1992) 131: The setup was a thorough ball-buster, an eight-hour mule train of uphill grind.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] [T]he cop-hating CCRB, which Phil Russo insists stands for ‘Cunts, Cocksuckers, Rats and Ballbusters,’ but is actually the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
2020		(con. 1991-94) W. Boyle City of Margins 53: The guy’s a natural-born ball-buster.

5. any thing or person seen as extraordinary or outstanding.

1975		L. Rosten Dear ‘Herm’ 139: This Zero is a ball-buster.
1994		P. Baker Blood Posse 29: Let me warn you, he’s one hell of a ball-buster.
2012		M. McBride Frank Sinatra in a Blender [ebook] He’s a detective and a real ballbuster. Kinda guy who lives to do the right thing.

6. (also buster) a tease.

1989		P. Munro Sl. U. 27: Carol dresses like she wants some, but she is such a ball buster. [Ibid.] 51: buster see ball buster.
1995		C. Hiaasen Stormy Weather 295: Neria appraised the face in the photograph. A ballbuster.