A very large bomb or explosive device designed to destroy an entire city, or metaphorically something powerful enough to devastate an urban area.
Compound of city (Old English ceaster, from Latin castrum 'fort') and buster (from burst, Old English berstan, meaning 'one who breaks'). Likely coined in the 20th century during discussions of nuclear weapons.
The term 'citybuster' emerged as atomic weapons became real in the 1940s-50s, reflecting genuine fear about total war—it's darker than 'bomb' because it forces you to picture entire cities erased, which is exactly what the word was designed to do.
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