Definition of "burst"

burst

/bɝst/

verb
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.
2. (transitive) To cause to break from internal pressure.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to break by any means.
  Quotations
  You will not pay for the glasses you have burst?
  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, [Act INDUCTION, scene i]
  He burst his lance against the sand below.
  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
4. (transitive) To separate (printer paper) at perforation lines.
5. (intransitive) To enter or exit hurriedly and unexpectedly.
  Quotations
  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.
  1913, Mariano Azuela, The Underdogs, translated by E. MunguÍa, Jr.
6. (intransitive) To erupt; to change state suddenly as if bursting.
  Quotations
  ‘ […] 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”. […] ’.
  1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess‎
7. (transitive) To produce as an effect of bursting.
  Quotations
  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.
  1856, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X
8. (transitive) To interrupt suddenly in a violent or explosive manner; to shatter.
  Quotations
  The sharp report of a gun burst the silence, and a moment later the gate swung open.
  2001, Jeanette Windle, Cave of the Inca Re, page 115
noun
plural bursts
1. An act or instance of bursting.
2. A sudden, often intense, expression, manifestation or display.
  Quotations
  "It's my wedding-day," cried Biddy, in a burst of happiness, "and I am married to Joe!"
  1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861
  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.
  1961, Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron‎, page 1
3. A series of shots fired from an automatic firearm.
4. (military) The explosion of a bomb or missile.
5. (archaic) A drinking spree.

Definition of "burst"

burst

verb

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

noun

Quotations