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:
Chief emission culprits are livestock farming, particularly cattle, which release planet-warming methane when they burp.
From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2025
It’s a problem that because of his net worth and lack of filter, he can get in a momentary snit, burp out an angry post, and send Washington scurrying.
From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2025
Livestock account for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with the largest portion coming from methane that cattle release when they burp.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 2, 2024
“I got it!” the Denver resident says after what was her second burp ever.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2024
After a half dozen hard tugs, the motor spluttered to life in a burp of purple smoke.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
Even under the worst kind of duress, they don’t want to flee their homes, their belongings, certainly not their families, despite the threatening burps of Vesuvius.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 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
This new Oasis scene seems to feature fewer blokes with sideburns, baggy nylon football shirts and those loud burps that follow swiftly-downed cans of Carling.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2024
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
She added to the chorus of burps and giggles in the room.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
For years, it was unclear why, but a new study suggests jet expulsions of hot matter burped out like cosmic cannonballs are behind it.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 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
As cows graze, bacteria in their stomachs help break the fiber down, a metabolic process that builds protein-dense muscle but also methane as a byproduct, which gets burped out.
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2022
The cows had burped out so much methane that it could be seen from space.
From NewsForKids.net ● May 6, 2022
“That was the one I burped slugs all over. If you’d wiped slime off a name for an hour, you’d remember it, too.”
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
It’s just like clockwork, if I have any solids during the day of the show, around song seven, I start burping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
“He wasn’t eating, constantly coughing and burping and was just uncomfortable, but you just put your trust in the medical staff,” he added.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2024
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
Spoon Man, Stella noticed, simply sat there and watched the activity around him, sipping from a cup of sweet tea, nibbling Mama’s sugar cookies, and burping occasionally.
From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
