burp
Americannoun
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burps
plural
verb (used without object)
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burps,
present (3rd person singular)
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burped,
past participle, past
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burping
present participle
verb (used with object)
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burps,
present (3rd person singular)
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burped,
past participle, past
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burping
present participle
noun
verb
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informal (intr) to belch
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(tr) to cause (a baby) to burp to relieve flatulence after feeding
Usage
What does burp mean? A burp is the often noisy instance of stomach gas being released through the mouth. It often happens after you eat or especially after you drink a bubbly drink like soda. Burp can also be used as a verb meaning to release gas in such a way, as in I burped right in the middle of the meeting—it was so embarrassing. Burping is common and normal, but it’s often considered rude to burp in public, especially to do so loudly. It’s typically considered the polite thing to do to try to cover up a burp. A synonym for both the noun and verb sense of burp is belch, which is a bit more formal. The technical medical term for burping or a burp is eructation. The verb form of this is eruct. As a verb, burp can also mean to help a baby to burp, as in I always enjoyed burping my babies after they drank their bottle—it’s so satisfying to get a big burp out! Babies are burped to prevent the buildup of gas. Usually, burping is done by gently patting the baby’s back. Burp is also sometimes used in a figurative way in the context of a thing releasing gas or air or something else, especially in a messy way. A volcano can be said to burp out fumes. You can burp a food storage container—let the excess air out of it—by quickly opening and closing the lid. Example: My grandfather loved to conclude his dinner by unleashing a loud burp to signal his satisfaction.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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burpsimple
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burpssimple
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have burpedperfect
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has burpedperfect
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am burpingprogressive
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are burpingprogressive
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is burpingprogressive
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have been burpingperfect progressive
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has been burpingperfect progressive
Past
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burpedsimple
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had burpedperfect
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was burpingprogressive
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were burpingprogressive
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had been burpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of burp
An Americanism first recorded in 1930–35; imitative
Explanation
A burp is a belch, or the loud release of trapped air loudly through your mouth. The sound of a burp during a quiet moment makes some people frown and others giggle. The sound you make when you reflexively let air or gas escape from your mouth is a burp — and to make this noise is to burp. The typical cause of a burp is swallowed air, with some people being able to gulp air and make themselves burp on purpose. Drinking fizzy soda can also make you burp. The word comes from the sound of a burp — it's imitative, and it first appeared in the 1930s.
Vocabulary lists containing burp
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I definitely wouldn’t do anything carbonated before a game. Makes you burp and all that kind of stuff.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
Excuse them, like they popped out of his mouth like an errant burp.
From Slate ● May 6, 2026
Chief emission culprits are livestock farming, particularly cattle, which release planet-warming methane when they burp.
From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2025
“I got it!” the Denver resident says after what was her second burp ever.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2024
Yes, of course, naturally she would love him, cuddle him, feed him, walk him, diaper him, burp him, dress him, and be a big sister to him in every way.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
These enormous cosmic "burps" can carry material across vast distances and can significantly affect the evolution of the galaxies that contain them.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
As the fireworks clear from Spain’s 1-0 victory over Argentina Sunday, let’s take a moment to bask in the afterglow and pungent ranch dressing burps of the just-completed 2026 North American World Cup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
There are farts and burps for laughs, but mostly the show is about self-love and acceptance — about how goodness can and will prevail, even in the darkest of circumstances.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2025
Fish oil can have some annoying side effects, such as fishy burps, but generally there are minimal serious side effects.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2023
“Hey, don’t be scared about meeting Mr. Retro. Long as neither of us burps, farts, or falls, it’ll be fine.”
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Those plants are eaten by animals and then methane is burped out during digestion or released as flatulence or through decaying manure.
From Salon ● Mar. 9, 2023
Barrymore who was at the head of the table, burped every few minutes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2023
One British company has even developed a wearable harness for cows that oxidizes methane as it’s burped out.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2022
The cows had burped out so much methane that it could be seen from space.
From NewsForKids.net ● May 6, 2022
“I burped right as you walked up. You walked right into my Burp Cloud.”
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
Anywhere between song seven and nine, I start burping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Mulaney, 42, also shared the same hospital photo on his Instagram grid and added a short video of their daughter spitting up on him while he was burping her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2024
Doctors also aren’t sure why many patients keep burping long after the Botox wears off after a few months.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2024
“I didn’t know if they were hugging or burping each other.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
On stage, Bull was still retching and puking and burping, lost completely in the virtuosity of his performance.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
