BURST • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Burst

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/bərst/ Listen

verb

Burst v. t. (past & past part. burst; pres. part. bursting; the past participle bursten is obsolete)

To break or rend by violence, as by an overcharge or by strain or pressure, esp. from within; to force open suddenly; as, to burst a cannon; to burst a blood vessel; to burst open the doors. "My breast I'll burst with straining of my courage."

To break. (Obs.) "You will not pay for the glasses you have burst?" "He burst his lance against the sand below."

To produce as an effect of bursting; as, to burst a hole through the wall.

Bursting charge. See under Charge.

Burst v. i. (past & past part. burst; pres. part. bursting; the past participle bursten is obsolete)

To fly apart or in pieces; of break open; to yield to force or pressure, especially to a sudden and violent exertion of force, or to pressure from within; to explode; as, the boiler had burst; the buds will burst in spring. "From the egg that soon Bursting with kindly rupture, forth disclosed Their callow young." Note: Often used figuratively, as of the heart, in reference to a surcharge of passion, grief, desire, etc. "No, no, my heart will burst, an if I speak: And I will speak, that so my heart may burst."

To exert force or pressure by which something is made suddenly to give way; to break through obstacles or limitations; hence, to appear suddenly and unexpectedly or unaccountably, or to depart in such manner; usually with some qualifying adverb or preposition, as forth, out, away, into, upon, through, etc. "Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth." "And now you burst (ah cruel!) from my arms." "A resolved villain Whose bowels suddenly burst out." "We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea." "To burst upon him like an earthquake."

noun

Burst n.

A sudden breaking forth; a violent rending; an explosion; as, a burst of thunder; a burst of applause; a burst of passion; a burst of inspiration. "Bursts of fox-hunting melody."

Any brief, violent exertion or effort; a spurt; as, a burst of speed.

A sudden opening, as of landscape; a stretch; an expanse. (R.) "A fine burst of country."

A rupture or hernia; a breach.

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Etymology of 'Burst'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Burst" Quotes from Famous Books

... hanging between the door and window had not been taken away. What had become of the inmate of this simple maiden's cell? A terrible apprehension crossed my mind. I thought of Marya in the hands of the robbers. My heart failed me; I burst into tears and murmured the name of my loved one. At this moment I heard a slight noise, and Polashka, very pale, came out from behind ...

— The Daughter of the Commandant • Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin

... I suffer so bitter a dread. You don't understand? You must know there were two; And that is why peace I shall nevermore find! The one was all love, so good and so true, The other was evil, faithless, unkind; The one to me came on a late summer day, When my heart burst in flower and bloom; The other led me in the mountain astray, Where all things are shrouded in gloom! 'Tis the evil one, you, that has come again; The other who loved me, so good and so kind, The one who will never be out of my mind,— Ah, him have ...

— Early Plays - Catiline, The Warrior's Barrow, Olaf Liljekrans • Henrik Ibsen

... he said to himself, "I have seen the man; but where and when?" That the look, so calm, so pitiful, so loving, had somewhere in a past time beamed upon him as that moment it was beaming upon Balthasar became an assurance. Faintly at first, at last a clear light, a burst of sunshine, the scene by the well at Nazareth what time the Roman guard was dragging him to the galleys returned, and all his being thrilled. Those hands had helped him when he was perishing. The face was one of the pictures he had carried in mind ever since. In the effusion of feeling excited, ...

— Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ • Lew Wallace

... are really horrid!" cried the girl, rising abruptly and leaving the table. When out of the room she burst ...

— Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo • William Le Queux

... for half an hour did the young man tell of the virtues and great deeds of his father, and the moment he had finished, a tremendous howl of grief burst from the whole assemblage, men, women, and children alike. When the wailing ceased they all returned ...

— The Great Salt Lake Trail • Colonel Henry Inman

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