burst

present singular third person bursts · participle present bursting · archaic past brast · nonstandard past bursted · archaic participle past brast · nonstandard participle past bursted · participle past rare bursten · alternative brast · alternative brust

1. intransitiveTo break from internal pressure.

   I blew the balloon up too much, and it burst.

2. transitiveTo cause to break from internal pressure.

   I burst the balloon when I blew it up too much.

3. obsoletetransitiveTo cause to break by any means.

   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, →OCLC

   1 more example

   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, →OCLC, [Act INDUCTION, scene i]

4. transitiveTo separate (printer paper) at perforation lines.

   I printed the report on form-feed paper, then burst the sheets.

5. intransitiveTo 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. intransitiveTo erupt; to change state suddenly as if bursting.

   The flowers burst into bloom on the first day of spring.

   1 more example

   ‘[…] 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: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

7. transitiveTo produce as an effect of bursting.

   to burst a hole through the wall

   1 more example

   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. transitiveTo interrupt suddenly in a violent or explosive manner; to shatter.

   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

9. intransitiveOf neurons: to exhibit an activation pattern where periods of rapid action potential spiking are followed by quiescent periods much longer than typical interspike intervals.

plural bursts

1. An act or instance of bursting.

   The bursts of the bombs could be heard miles away.

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

   I read it in two bursts.

   3 more examples

   "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 […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC

   […] and only at Barnet did Tappin give Empire of India a burst to bring us up to the 60 m.p.h. speed ceiling of the London area.

   1956 December 28, W. J. Alcock, “On the Footplate of the "Elizabethan"”, in Railway Magazine, page 821

   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

   Synonyms: spurt

3. A series of shots fired from an automatic firearm.
4. governmentThe explosion of a bomb or missile.

   a ground burst; a surface burst

5. archaicA drinking spree.