burst
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
burstIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɝst
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
transitive
To cause to break from internal pressure.
intransitive
To enter or exit hurriedly and unexpectedly.
transitive
To interrupt suddenly in a violent or explosive manner; to shatter.
transitive
To separate (printer paper) at perforation lines.
Emerge suddenly
noun
The act of exploding or bursting
An act or instance of bursting.
A sudden intense happening
A sudden, often intense, expression, manifestation or display.
A series of shots fired from an automatic firearm.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
Used this way, burst is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Sudden and forceful
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use burst
- “The balloon will burst if you fill it with too much air.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Spring suddenly.
Give sudden release to an expression.
Spring suddenly.
A quantity of explosive to be set off at one time.
A high explosive that is used to damage the target that is under attack.
Jump out from a hiding place and surprise (someone).
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: come open suddenly and violently
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.