burst into tears

verb

To suddenly start crying or sobbing.

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Meanings

verbburst into tears (third-person singular simple present bursts into tears, present participle bursting into tears, simple past and past participle burst into tears)

present singular third person bursts into tears · participle present bursting into tears

  1. idiomaticTo suddenly start crying or sobbing.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
beweepblubbergreetwailweep

Translations

Ancient Greek ἀναλύομαι, ῥήγνυμι
  • ἀναλύομαι (analúomai)suddenly start crying
  • ῥήγνυμι (rhḗgnumi)suddenly start crying
Arabic فجأة بدأ يبكي
  • فجأة بدأ يبكيsuddenly start crying
Chinese Mandarin 突然哭起來 /突然哭起来
  • 突然哭起來 /突然哭起来 (tūrán kū qǐlái)suddenly start crying
Czech najednou rozplakat se
  • najednou rozplakat sesuddenly start crying
Dutch in tranen uitbarsten
  • in tranen uitbarstensuddenly start crying
Esperanto ekplori
  • ekplorisuddenly start crying
Estonian nutma puhkema
  • nutma puhkemasuddenly start crying
Finnish puhjeta itkuun, kyynelöityä
  • puhjeta itkuunsuddenly start crying
  • kyynelöityäsuddenly start crying
French éclater en sanglots, fondre en larmes
  • éclater en sanglotssuddenly start crying
  • fondre en larmessuddenly start crying
Greek αναλύομαι, ξεσπάω σε κλάματα
  • αναλύομαι (analýomai)suddenly start crying
  • ξεσπάω σε κλάματα (xespáo se klámata)suddenly start crying
Hungarian könnyekre fakad, könnyekben tör ki
  • könnyekre fakadsuddenly start crying
  • könnyekben tör kisuddenly start crying
  • elsírja magátsuddenly start crying
Japanese 泣き出す
  • 泣き出す (nakidasu)suddenly start crying
Polish rozpłakiwać się, rozpłakać się
  • rozpłakiwać sięsuddenly start crying
  • rozpłakać sięsuddenly start crying
Spanish romper a llorar, entrarle una llorera
  • romper a llorarsuddenly start crying
  • entrarle una llorerasuddenly start crying
Swedish brista ut i gråt, brista ut i tårar
  • brista ut i gråtsuddenly start crying
  • brista ut i tårarsuddenly start crying
Vietnamese oà
  • oàsuddenly start crying
Cite this entry
APA

burst into tears. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burst%20into%20tears

MLA

“burst into tears.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burst%20into%20tears. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “burst into tears,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burst%20into%20tears.

Source: burst into tears on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.