burst
English
Etymology
From Middle English bersten, from Old English berstan, from Proto-Germanic *brestaną (compare West Frisian boarste, Dutch barsten, Swedish brista), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰres- (“to burst, break, crack, split, separate”) (compare Irish bris (“to break”)), enlargement of *bʰreHi- (“to snip, split”). More at brine. Also cognate to debris.
Verb
burst (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)
- (intransitive) To break from internal pressure.
- I blew the balloon up too much, and it burst.
- (transitive) To cause to break from internal pressure.
- I burst the balloon when I blew it up too much.
- (transitive, obsolete) To cause to break by any means.
- Shakespeare
- You will not pay for the glasses you have burst?
- Fairfax
- He burst his lance against the sand below.
- Shakespeare
- (transitive) To separate (printer paper) at perforation lines.
- I printed the report on form-feed paper, then burst the sheets.
- (intransitive) To enter or exit hurriedly and unexpectedly.
- 1856: Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
- 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.
- 1913, Mariano Azuela, The Underdogs, translated by E. MunguÍa, Jr.
- 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.
- 1856: Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
- (intransitive) To erupt; to change state suddenly as if bursting.
- The flowers burst into bloom on the first day of spring.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess:
- ‘ […] 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”. […] ’.
- (transitive) To produce as an effect of bursting.
- to burst a hole through the wall
Quotations
- For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:burst.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to break from internal pressure
|
|
to cause to burst
|
|
To erupt; to change state suddenly as if bursting.
|
Noun
burst (plural bursts)
- An act or instance of bursting.
- The bursts of the bombs could be heard miles away.
- A sudden, often intense, expression, manifestation or display.
- Synonym: spurt
- 1860/1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
- "It's my wedding-day," cried Biddy, in a burst of happiness, "and I am married to Joe!"
- 1961, Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron, page 1:
- 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.
- A series of shots fired from an automatic firearm.
- (archaic) A drinking spree.
Derived terms
Translations
instance or act of bursting
|
|
Icelandic
Etymology
From Old Norse burst, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pʏr̥st/
- Rhymes: -ʏr̥st
Declension
declension of burst
f-s2 | singular | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | burst | burstin | burstir | burstirnar |
accusative | burst | burstina | burstir | burstirnar |
dative | burst | burstinni | burstum | burstunum |
genitive | burstar | burstarinnar | bursta | burstanna |
Old High German
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *burstiz. Akin to Old English byrst, Old Norse burst.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.