burst - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English bresten, bersten, from Old English berstan, from Proto-West Germanic *brestan, from Proto-Germanic *brestaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰres- (“to burst, break, crack, split, separate”), enlargement of *bʰreHi- (“to snip, split”).

See also West Frisian boarste, Dutch barsten, Danish briste, Swedish brista; also Irish bris (“to break”)). More at brine. Also cognate to debris.

burst (third-person singular simple present bursts, present participle bursting, simple past **burst or (archaic) brast or (nonstandard) bursted, past participle **burst or (archaic) brast or (nonstandard) bursted or (rare) bursten)

  1. (intransitive) To break from internal pressure.
    I blew the balloon up too much, and it burst.
  2. (transitive) To cause to break from internal pressure.
    I burst the balloon when I blew it up too much.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to break by any means.
  4. (transitive) To separate (printer paper) at perforation lines.
    I printed the report on form-feed paper, then burst the sheets.
  5. (intransitive) To enter or exit hurriedly and unexpectedly.
    • 1913, Mariano Azuela, The Underdogs, translated by E. MunguÍa, Jr.
      Like hungry dogs who have sniffed their meat, the mob bursts in, trampling down the women who sought to bar the entrance with their bodies.
  6. (intransitive) To erupt; to change state suddenly as if bursting.
    The flowers burst into bloom on the first day of spring.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      ‘ […] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”. […] ’.
  7. (transitive) To produce as an effect of bursting.
    to burst a hole through the wall
    • 1856, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X
      He entered Maromme shouting for the people of the inn, burst open the door with a thrust of his shoulder, made for a sack of oats, emptied a bottle of sweet cider into the manger, and again mounted his nag, whose feet struck fire as it dashed along.
  8. (transitive) To interrupt suddenly in a violent or explosive manner; to shatter.
    • 2001, Jeanette Windle, Cave of the Inca Re, page 115:
      The sharp report of a gun burst the silence, and a moment later the gate swung open.

to break from internal pressure

to cause to burst

burst (plural bursts)

  1. An act or instance of bursting.
    The bursts of the bombs could be heard miles away.
  2. A sudden, often intense, expression, manifestation or display.
    Synonym: spurt
    I read it in two bursts.
    • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC:
      "It's my wedding-day," cried Biddy, in a burst of happiness, "and I am married to Joe!"
    • 1956 December, W. J. Alcock, “On the Footplate of the "Elizabethan"”, in Railway Magazine, page 821:
      […] and only at Barnet did Tappin give Empire of India a burst to bring us up to the 60 m.p.h. speed ceiling of the London area.
    • 1961, Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron‎[1], page 1:
      It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts.
  3. A series of shots fired from an automatic firearm.
  4. (military) The explosion of a bomb or missile.
    a ground burst; a surface burst
  5. (archaic) A drinking spree.

instance or act of bursting

From Old Norse burst, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz.

burst f (genitive singular burstar, nominative plural burstir)

  1. bristle
  2. gable

From Old English byrst, from Proto-West Germanic *brestu, from Proto-Germanic *brestuz. Doublet of brest.

burst (plural burstes)

  1. loss, destruction
  2. injury, harm
  3. need, deficiency

From Proto-West Germanic *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz.

burst n

  1. bristle

Inherited from Proto-Germanic *burstiz

burst f

  1. bristle