burst

English

Etymology

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, Swedish brista; also Irish bris (“to break”)). More at brine. Also cognate to debris.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /bɝst/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɜːst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)st

Verb

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

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.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act INDUCTION, scene i]:

     You will not pay for the glasses you have burst?

   • 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC:

     He burst his lance against the sand below.

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.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:burst.

Alternative forms

• brast, brust (both obsolete)

Coordinate terms

• split, crack

Derived terms

• aburst
• bank-bursting
• burstability
• burstable
• burst a blood vessel
• burst at the seams
• burster
• burst forth
• burst in
• bursting pressure
• burst into
• burst into flame
• burst into flames
• burst into flower
• burst into tears
• burst out
• burst out laughing
• burst someone's bubble
• burst up
• fit to burst
• forburst
• reburst
• toburst
• unburst

 

Related terms

• bust

Translations

to break from internal pressure

• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: انفزر (infazar)

• Armenian: պայթել (hy) (paytʻel), պոռթկալ (hy) (poṙtʻkal)
• Basque: lehertu
• Bulgarian: пръсвам се (prǎsvam se)
• Catalan: petar (ca), rebentar (ca), esclatar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 爆 (baau³)

  Eastern Min: 爆 (bouk)

  Mandarin: 爆裂 (zh) (bàoliè), 破裂 (zh) (pòliè)

• Czech: prasknout (cs)
• Dalmatian: crepur
• Dutch: barsten (nl)
• Esperanto: krevi
• Finnish: haljeta (fi), puhjeta (fi), räjähtää (fi)
• French: éclater (fr)
• Galician: estoupar, estourar (gl), rebentar (gl), esbochar
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: platzen (de), zerplatzen (de), bersten (de)

  Alemannic German: versprütze

• Gothic: 𐌳𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (distairan)
• Greek: σκάω (el) (skáo), εκρήγνυμαι (el) (ekrígnymai)

  Ancient: λάσκω (láskō)

• Hebrew: התפוצץ (he) (hitpotséts)
• Hindi: फूटना (hi) (phūṭnā)
• Hungarian: szétpukkan (hu), szétdurran (hu), kidurran (hu), kipukkad (hu), szétpukkad (hu)
• Indonesian: meletus (id), meletup (id)
• Irish: pléasc
• Italian: scoppiare (it), esplodere (it)
• Japanese: 破裂する (ja) (はれつする, haretsu suru)
• Khmer: ផ្ទុះ (ptuh)
• Korean: 파열하다 (payeolhada)
• Kyrgyz: жарылыш (ky) (jarılış), жарылуу (ky) (jarıluu), дүрт этүү (ky) (dürt etüü), башталып кетүү (ky) (baştalıp ketüü), дүрт (ky) (dürt), жарк (ky) (jark), бөлүү (ky) (bölüü), чулп эткен дабыш (culp etken dabış), чалп эткен дабыш (calp etken dabış), импульс (ky) (impuls), бөлүнүп кетүү (ky) (bölünüp ketüü)
• Low German:

  German Low German: barsten (nds)

• Maori: pahū, pohū, kōwhā, ngawhā, ngaora (into flower), kowhera, papā, tawhā, ngawhewhe
• Middle English: bresten
• Mongolian: тэсрэх (mn) (tesrex)
• North Frisian:

  Föhr-Amrum: baast

• Occitan: espetar (oc), esclatar
• Polish: pękać (pl) impf, pęknąć (pl) pf; rozsadzać (pl)
• Portuguese: arrebentar (pt), estourar (pt)
• Russian: ло́паться (ru) impf (lópatʹsja), ло́пнуть (ru) pf (lópnutʹ), разрыва́ться (ru) impf (razryvátʹsja), разорва́ться (ru) pf (razorvátʹsja), тре́скаться (ru) impf (tréskatʹsja), тре́снуть (ru) pf (trésnutʹ)
• Sanskrit: स्फलति (sphalati)
• Spanish: reventar (es)
• Swedish: brista (sv), spricka (sv), brisera (sv)
• Telugu: చితుకు (te) (cituku), పగిలిపోవు (pagilipōvu)
• Thai: แตก (th) (dtɛ̀ɛk), ระเบิด (th) (rá-bə̀ət)
• Turkish: patlamak (tr)
• Vietnamese: bị bể (vi)
• Volapük: kräkön (vo)

to cause to burst

• Bulgarian: пръсвам (bg) (prǎsvam), взривявам (bg) (vzrivjavam)
• Catalan: esclatar (ca), esquerdar (ca)
• Dutch: doen barsten
• Finnish: halkaista (fi), puhkaista (fi), räjäyttää (fi)
• French: faire éclater, rompre (fr), briser (fr)
• German: sprengen (de)
• Greek: σκάω (el) (skáo)

  Ancient: διασπάω (diaspáō)

• Hungarian: szétpukkaszt, kipukkaszt (hu), kidurrant (hu)
• Indonesian: meletus, meletup
• Irish: pléasc
• Italian: far scoppiare, strappare (it), separare (it)
• Latin: dīrumpō
• Low German:

  German Low German: doon barsten (nds)

• Middle English: bresten
• Plautdietsch: tweirieten
• Portuguese: estourar (pt)
• Russian: разрыва́ть (ru) impf (razryvátʹ), разорва́ть (ru) pf (razorvátʹ), лопать (ru) impf (lopatʹ)
• Spanish: reventar (es), romper (es)
• Swahili: kukata (sw)
• Swedish: spräcka (sv)
• Telugu: పగలగొట్టు (pagalagoṭṭu)
• Turkish: patlatmak (tr)
• Vietnamese: làm bể, bể (vi)

to erupt; to change state suddenly as if bursting — see also erupt

• Hungarian: kitör (hu), hirtelen (el)kezd, (in phrases depending on the action) borul (hu), fakad (hu)
• Maori: ngaora (of flowers)
• Middle English: bresten

Noun

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

   • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations […], volumes (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!"

   • 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.

Derived terms

• afterburst
• air-burst
• air burst
• airburst
• bird burst
• black and burst
• budburst
• burstlet
• burst mode
• burst noise
• burstwise
• burstwort
• bursty
• circumburst
• cloudburst
• cloud-burst
• cloud burst
• colorburst
• damburst
• downburst
• extinction burst
• fast radio burst
• gamma-ray burst
• groundburst
• inburst
• interburst
• intraburst
• last burst of fire
• macroburst
• mergeburst
• microburst
• miniburst
• on the burst
• outburst
• overburst
• postburst
• preburst
• radio burst
• rainburst
• rockburst
• rotor burst
• shellburst
• starburst
• strain burst
• sunburst
• superburst
• thunderburst
• upburst
• X-ray burst

 

Translations

instance or act of bursting

• Armenian: պայթյուն (hy) (paytʻyun), պոռթկում (hy) (poṙtʻkum)
• Bulgarian: взрив (bg) m (vzriv), избухване (bg) n (izbuhvane)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 爆裂 (zh) (bàoliè), 破裂 (zh) (pòliè)

• Czech: prasknutí
• Dutch: uitbarsting (nl), ontploffing (nl)
• Finnish: räjähdys (fi), puhkeaminen (fi)
• French: éclatement (fr) m, explosion (fr) f
• Galician: estoupido m, estoupo m, estourido m, estoiro m, estouro m
• German: Bersten n, Zerbrechen n, Platzen n
• Greek: έκρηξη (el) f (ékrixi)
• Ido: erupto (io)
• Indonesian: letupan (id), letusan (id)
• Irish: rois f
• Italian: scoppio (it), esplosione (it)
• Low German:

  German Low German: Barsten n, Barsten f, Tobreken n, Tweibreken n

• Old Saxon: brestan
• Polish: eksplozja (pl) f, pęknięcie (pl) n, wybuch (pl) m, rozerwanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: estouro (pt) m, explosão (pt) f
• Russian: взрыв (ru) m (vzryv), разры́в (ru) m (razrýv), ло́пание (ru) n (lópanije)
• Spanish: ráfaga (es) f, estallo (es) m, reventón (es) m, estallido (es) m, explosión (es) f
• Swedish: skur (sv) c, salva (sv) c, omgång (sv) c

series of shots fired from an automatic firearm

• Dutch: salvo (nl)
• Russian: очередь (ru) f (óčeredʹ)

Anagrams

• Strub, strub, trubs

Icelandic

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʏr̥st/
• Rhymes: -ʏr̥st

Noun

burst f (genitive singular burstar, nominative plural burstir)

1. bristle
2. gable

Related terms

• bursti
• bursta

Middle English

Alternative forms

• birst, brist, bruste, bryste, burste, byrst

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /birst/, /burst/
• (metathetic) IPA^(key): /brist/, /brust/

Noun

burst (plural burstes)

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

References

• “burst, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old High German

Alternative forms

• borst

Etymology

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

Noun

burst n

1. bristle

Descendants

• Middle High German: burst, borst, burste, borste
  • Bavarian: Biaschtn
  • Central Franconian:

    Hunsrik: Berst

    Luxembourgish: Buuscht, Biischt

  • East Central German:

    Erzgebirgisch: bèrschd

  • German: Borste, Bürste

Old Norse

Etymology

from Proto-Germanic *burstiz

Noun

burst f

1. bristle

Declension

  Declension of burst (strong i-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	burst	burstin	burstir	burstirnar
accusative	burst	burstina	burstir	burstirnar
dative	burst	burstinni	burstum	burstunum
genitive	burstar	burstarinnar	bursta	burstanna

References

• Gerhard Köbler (2014) “Altnordisches Wörterbuch [Old Norse dictionary]”, in https://koeblergerhard.de (in German), 4th edition