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burst - 6 dictionary results
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burst

  [burst] verb, burst or, often, burst⋅ed, burst⋅ing, noun
Use burst in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to break, break open, or fly apart with sudden violence: The bitter cold caused the pipes to burst.
2. to issue forth suddenly and forcibly, as from confinement or through an obstacle: Oil burst to the surface. He burst through the doorway.
3. to give sudden expression to or as if to emotion: to burst into applause; to burst into tears.
4. to be extremely full, as if ready to break open: The house was bursting with people.
5. to appear suddenly; become visible, audible, evident, etc., all at once: The sun burst through the clouds.
–verb (used with object)
6. to cause to break or break open suddenly and violently: He burst the balloon.
7. to cause or suffer the rupture of: to burst a blood vessel.
8. to separate (the parts of a multipart stationery form consisting of interleaved paper and carbon paper).
–noun
9. an act or instance of bursting.
10. a sudden, intense display, as of activity, energy, or effort: The car passed us with a burst of speed.
11. a sudden expression or manifestation, as of emotion: a burst of affection.
12. a sudden and violent issuing forth: a burst of steam from the pipe.
13. Military.
a. the explosion of a projectile, esp. in a specified place: an air burst.
b. a rapid sequence of shots fired by one pull on the trigger of an automatic weapon: A burst from the machine gun shattered all the windows.
14. the result of bursting; breach; gap: a burst in the dike.
15. a sudden appearance or opening to view.
—Idiom
16. burst at the seams, to be filled to or beyond normal capacity: This room will be bursting at the seams when all the guests arrive.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME bersten, bursten, OE berstan (past. pl. burston), c. OHG brestan (G bersten), ON bresta; akin to break

Synonyms:
1. crack, explode. 6. rend, tear. 10. spurt. 11, 12. outbreak.

Usage note:
See bust 2 .
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To burst
burst   (bûrst)   
v.   burst, burst·ing, bursts

v.   intr.
    1. To come open or fly apart suddenly or violently, especially from internal pressure.
    2. To explode.
  2. To be or seem to be full to the point of breaking open: The sacks were bursting with grain.
  3. To emerge, come forth, or arrive suddenly: burst out of the door.
  4. To come apart or seem to come apart because of overwhelming emotion: thought his heart would burst with happiness.
  5. To give sudden utterance or expression: burst out laughing; burst into tears.
v.   tr.
  1. To cause to burst: burst the balloon. See Synonyms at break.
  2. To exert strong pressure in order to force (something) open.
  3. To separate (a continuous form or printout) into individual sheets.
n.  
  1. A sudden outbreak or outburst; an explosion.
  2. The result of bursting, especially the explosion of a projectile or bomb on impact or in the air.
    1. The number of bullets fired from an automatic weapon by one pull of the trigger.
    2. A volley of bullets fired from an automatic weapon: The machine gunner fired a quick burst.
  4. An abrupt, intense increase; a rush: a burst of speed; fitful bursts of wind.
  5. A period of intense activity: "I write in very short bursts—10 or 15 minutes" (Zoe Heller).

[Middle English bursten, from Old English berstan.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Burst

Burst\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Burst; p. pr. & vb. n. Bursting. The past participle bursten is obsolete.] [OE. bersten, bresten, AS. berstan (pers. sing. berste, imp. sing. b[ae]rst, imp. pl. burston, p. p. borsten); akin to D. bersten, G. bersten, OHG. brestan, OS. brestan, Icel. bresta, Sw. brista, Dan. briste. Cf. Brast, Break.]

1. To fly apart or in pieces; of break open; to yield to force or pressure, especially to a sudden and violent exertion of force, or to pressure from within; to explode; as, the boiler had burst; the buds will burst in spring.

From the egg that soon Bursting with kindly rupture, forth disclosed Their callow young. --Milton.

Note: Often used figuratively, as of the heart, in reference to a surcharge of passion, grief, desire, etc.

No, no, my heart will burst, an if I speak: And I will speak, that so my heart may burst. --Shak.

2. To exert force or pressure by which something is made suddenly to give way; to break through obstacles or limitations; hence, to appear suddenly and unexpectedly or unaccountably, or to depart in such manner; -- usually with some qualifying adverb or preposition, as forth, out, away, into, upon, through, etc.

Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth. --Milton.

And now you burst (ah cruel!) from my arms. --Pope.

A resolved villain Whose bowels suddenly burst out. --Shak.

We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. --Coleridge.

To burst upon him like an earthquake. --Goldsmith.

Burst

Burst\ (b[^u]rst), v. t. 1. To break or rend by violence, as by an overcharge or by strain or pressure, esp. from within; to force open suddenly; as, to burst a cannon; to burst a blood vessel; to burst open the doors.

My breast I'll burst with straining of my courage. --Shak.

2. To break. [Obs.]

You will not pay for the glasses you have burst? --Shak.

He burst his lance against the sand below. --Fairfax (Tasso).

3. To produce as an effect of bursting; as, to burst a hole through the wall.

Bursting charge. See under Charge.

Burst

Burst\, n. 1. A sudden breaking forth; a violent rending; an explosion; as, a burst of thunder; a burst of applause; a burst of passion; a burst of inspiration.

Bursts of fox-hunting melody. --W. Irving.

2. Any brief, violent exertion or effort; a spurt; as, a burst of speed.

3. A sudden opening, as of landscape; a stretch; an expanse. [R.] "A fine burst of country." --Jane Austen.

4. A rupture or hernia; a breach.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : burst
Spanish: reventar,
German: bersten,
Japanese: 破裂する
More Translations »

burst 
O.E. berstan "break suddenly" (class III strong verb; past tense bærst, pp. borsten), from a W.Gmc. metathesis of P.Gmc. *brestanan (cf. O.Fris. bersta, M.Du. berstan, Low Ger. barsten), from PIE base *bhres- "to burst, break, crack." The forms reverted to brest- in M.E. from influence of O.N. brestan/brast/brosten from the same Gmc. root, but it was re-metathesized late 16c. and emerged in the modern form, though brast was common as p.t. through 17c. and survives in dialect.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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