burst

English Online Dictionary. What means burst‎? What does burst mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English bresten, bersten, from Old English berstan, from Proto-West Germanic *brestan, from Proto-Germanic *brestaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰres- (“to burst, break, crack, split, separate”), enlargement of *bʰreHi- (“to snip, split”).

See also West Frisian boarste, Dutch barsten, Swedish brista; also Irish bris (“to break”)). More at brine. Also cognate to debris.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /bɝst/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɜːst/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)st

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)

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.
4. (transitive) To separate (printer paper) at perforation lines.

5. (intransitive) To enter or exit hurriedly and unexpectedly.
   • 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.

6. (intransitive) To erupt; to change state suddenly as if bursting.
7. (transitive) To produce as an effect of bursting.
   • 1856, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X

     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.

8. (transitive) To interrupt suddenly in a violent or explosive manner; to shatter.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:burst.

Alternative forms

• brast, brust (both obsolete)

Coordinate terms

• split, crack

Derived terms

Related terms

• bust

Translations

Noun

burst (plural bursts)

1. An act or instance of bursting.

2. A sudden, often intense, expression, manifestation or display.

   Synonym: spurt
3. A series of shots fired from an automatic firearm.
4. (military) The explosion of a bomb or missile.

5. (archaic) A drinking spree.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Strub, strub, trubs

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse burst, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʏr̥st/
• Rhymes: -ʏr̥st

Noun

burst f (genitive singular burstar, nominative plural burstir)

1. bristle
2. gable

Declension

Related terms

• bursti
• bursta

Middle English

Alternative forms

• birst, brist, bruste, bryste, burste, byrst

Etymology

From Old English byrst, from Proto-West Germanic *brestu, from Proto-Germanic *brestuz. Doublet of brest.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /birst/, /burst/
• (metathetic) IPA^(key): /brist/, /brust/

Noun

burst (plural burstes)

1. loss, destruction
2. injury, harm
3. need, deficiency

References

• “burst, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old High German

Alternative forms

• borst

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz.

Noun

burst n

1. bristle

Descendants

• Middle High German: burst, borst, burste, borste
  • Bavarian: Biaschtn
  • Central Franconian:

    Hunsrik: Berst

    Luxembourgish: Buuscht, Biischt

  • East Central German:

    Erzgebirgisch: bèrschd

  • German: Borste, Bürste

Old Norse

Etymology

from Proto-Germanic *burstiz

Noun

burst f

1. bristle

Declension

References

• Gerhard Köbler (2014) “Altnordisches Wörterbuch [Old Norse dictionary]”, in https://koeblergerhard.de (in German), 4th edition