blurt

American

[blurt] / blɜrt /

verb (used with object)

to utter suddenly or inadvertently; divulge impulsively or unadvisedly (usually followed byout ).

He blurted out the hiding place of the spy.

noun

an abrupt utterance.

blurt British

/ blɜːt /

verb

to utter suddenly and involuntarily

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of blurt

First recorded in 1565–75; apparently imitative

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.

My mom called it a blurt laugh, and it was, but then it would go on for a while.

From Literature

We hear “the strangled ungulate blurt” of a distressed elk, “the ruminant crunch” of a grazing sheep.

From The Wall Street Journal

When the little boy in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” blurts out that the emperor is naked, he says what people already knew.

From The Wall Street Journal

He’s sort of like a chess player, unless he blurts something out.

From Salon

“I think I know your father,” the clerk blurted.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023