burst
Americanverb (used without object)
-
bursts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
burst,
past participle, past
-
bursted,
past participle, past
-
bursting
present participle
-
to break, break open, or fly apart with sudden violence.
The bitter cold caused the pipes to burst.
-
to issue forth suddenly and forcibly, as from confinement or through an obstacle.
Oil burst to the surface. He burst through the doorway.
-
to give sudden expression to or as if to emotion.
to burst into applause; to burst into tears.
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to be extremely full, as if ready to break open.
The house was bursting with people.
-
to appear suddenly; become visible, audible, evident, etc., all at once.
The sun burst through the clouds.
verb (used with object)
-
bursts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
burst,
past participle, past
-
bursted,
past participle, past
-
bursting
present participle
noun
-
bursts
plural
-
an act or instance of bursting.
-
a sudden, intense display, as of activity, energy, or effort.
The car passed us with a burst of speed.
- Synonyms:
- spurt
-
a sudden expression or manifestation, as of emotion.
a burst of affection.
- Synonyms:
- outbreak
-
a sudden and violent issuing forth.
a burst of steam from the pipe.
- Synonyms:
- outbreak
-
Military.
-
the explosion of a projectile, especially in a specified place.
an air burst.
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a rapid sequence of shots fired by one pull on the trigger of an automatic weapon.
A burst from the machine gun shattered all the windows.
-
-
the result of bursting; breach; gap.
a burst in the dike.
-
a sudden appearance or opening to view.
idioms
verb
-
to break or cause to break open or apart suddenly and noisily, esp from internal pressure; explode
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(intr) to come, go, etc, suddenly and forcibly
he burst into the room
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(intr) to be full to the point of breaking open
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(intr) to give vent (to) suddenly or loudly
to burst into song
-
to cause or suffer the rupture of
to burst a blood vessel
noun
-
a sudden breaking open or apart; explosion
-
a break; breach; rupture
-
a sudden display or increase of effort or action; spurt
a burst of speed
-
a sudden and violent emission, occurrence, or outbreak
a burst of heavy rain
a burst of applause
-
a volley of fire from a weapon or weapons
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
burstsimple
-
burstssimple
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have burstperfect
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have burstedperfect
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has burstperfect
-
has burstedperfect
-
am burstingprogressive
-
are burstingprogressive
-
is burstingprogressive
-
have been burstingperfect progressive
-
has been burstingperfect progressive
Past
-
burstsimple
-
burstedsimple
-
had burstperfect
-
had burstedperfect
-
was burstingprogressive
-
were burstingprogressive
-
had been burstingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of burst
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bersten, bursten, Old English berstan (past plural burston ), cognate with Old High German brestan ( German bersten ), Old Norse bresta; akin to break
Explanation
A burst is a sudden flurry of activity. Bursts of energy are helpful in shoveling heavy snow, but it's better if you work steadily instead of shoveling fast and stopping. As a verb, burst is your go-to action word to describe something sudden and energetic happening. It usually means, "to explode outward, with noise" like if you burst into song in the middle of study hall, startling everyone. It also means, “to split open in a violent way due to internal pressure” like an overfilled water balloon. It comes from the Old English word berstan, meaning "break suddenly."
Vocabulary lists containing burst
Language Gone Wrong: Words That Started Out as Errors
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Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 2
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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:
The crowd burst into applause and a rendition of "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" broke out as it made its way through the coastal village on Swansea's southwestern edge.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
This short and rapid burst suggests that CRH has an important function during the earliest stages of the healing response.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Households could reduce spending temporarily to rebuild their savings after drawing down their bank accounts earlier in the year to cope with another burst of inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
When I got to Figaro, the last place to look on my list, I burst out crying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The sea burst with bubbling water and a thick snakelike green root broke through.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
But it ends with a blooper shot where Burnham fumbles to catch the helmet and bursts out laughing.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
That constant swirling is a driving force behind bursts of energy from the Sun, creating so-called space weather, that can disrupt Earth's power grids and satellites, and could even injure astronauts.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Of course, none of those businesses would fare well if the AI bubble bursts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
The researchers also found that several of the most important evolutionary bursts occurred around periods of major climate change.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
This is the moment when Jack pulls the curtain back and my family bursts into the room.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
Postal Service truck had slid 50 feet down an embankment, and the “box containing the frankfurters was bursted open and the contents strewn considerably,” Alexander wrote to a U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2025
Previously, I’d been seduced by demonstrative courtship, but Mark wasn’t effusive, and when someone bursted into laughter with “She’s hysterical!” at one of my jokes, Mark looked bewildered.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2025
It bursted out of TikTok and into the mainstream last month, when Shakira performed the “Jiggle Jiggle” dance on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2022
Minnesota bursted out to a 23-0 lead at halftime as Pittsburgh struggled on offense and with run defense.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2021
"Say, mamma, my clothes are getting too tight for me, and I've bursted a seam in the back of my coat," said one of the youngsters, after a short pause.
From Harper's Young People, September 21, 1880 An Illustrated Weekly by Various
A passenger had been using a battery pack during the flight, and it had overheated before bursting into flames with a seat catching fire.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The first is that the bursting of giant bubbles has often been catastrophic for the economy—think of 1929 or 2008.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
I had long admired her, especially the rollicking and indispensable “Slow Days, Fast Company,” first published in 1977, a charming and insightful series of stories bursting with pluck and sass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
"Most of us had fallen asleep, we had closed our eyes. There was a noise, like a tyre bursting," a fellow passenger told Radio Thessaloniki.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
It was moist and creamy and absolutely too much for our already bursting stomachs, but it was scrumptious.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
