I. burst 1 W3 /bɜːst $ bɜːrst/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle burst )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: berstan ]
1 . BREAK OPEN [intransitive and transitive] if something bursts, or if you burst it, it breaks open or apart suddenly and violently so that its contents come out:
The pipes had burst and the house was under two feet of water.
2 . be bursting with something to have a lot of something or be filled with something:
John was bursting with ideas and good humour.
The shops are bursting with food.
be bursting with pride/energy/excitement etc
Your mum’s bursting with pride for you.
3 . MOVE SUDDENLY [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to move somewhere suddenly or quickly, especially into or out of a place
burst into/through/in etc
Jo burst into the room.
4 . burst open to open suddenly:
The door burst open and Tom ran into the room.
5 . be bursting to do something informal to want to do something very much:
Zach was bursting to tell them something.
6 . be bursting
a) British English informal to need to go to the toilet very soon
b) ( also be bursting at the seams ) to be so full that nothing else can fit inside
7 . burst sb’s bubble informal to make someone suddenly realize that something is not as good as they thought it was:
Steve was so happy I couldn’t bear to burst his bubble.
8 . burst its banks if a river bursts its banks, water from it goes onto the land
⇨ full (up) to bursting at ↑ full 1 (1), ⇨ burst the bubble at ↑ bubble 1 (6), ⇨ the bubble bursts at ↑ bubble 1 (5)
burst in on/upon somebody/something phrasal verb
to interrupt someone or something by entering a room, in a way that embarrasses you or other people:
I’m sorry to burst in on you like this.
burst into something phrasal verb
1 . to suddenly begin to make a sound, especially to start singing, crying, or laughing:
Claire looked as if she were about to burst into tears.
Suddenly, the group burst into laughter.
Lydia burst into song.
2 . burst into flames/flame to suddenly start to burn very strongly:
Their car crashed and burst into flames.
burst onto/upon/on something phrasal verb
to suddenly appear and become very successful:
The band burst onto the music scene in 1997.
burst out phrasal verb
1 . burst out laughing/crying/singing etc to suddenly start to laugh, cry etc:
Everyone burst out laughing.
2 . to suddenly say something in a forceful way:
‘I don’t believe it!’ she burst out angrily.
⇨ ↑ outburst (1)
II. burst 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . the act of something bursting or the place where it has burst:
a burst in the water pipe
2 .
a) a short sudden effort or increase in activity
burst of
The van gave a sudden burst of speed.
b) a short sudden and usually loud sound
burst of
sharp bursts of machine gun fire
c) a sudden strong feeling or emotion
burst of anger/enthusiasm/temper etc