burst out

English

Etymology

Analytic form of the earlier outburst.

Pronunciation

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Verb

burst out (third-person singular simple present bursts out, present participle bursting out, simple past and past participle burst out)

1. (intransitive, literally) To appear suddenly from within something else.
   • 2001, Matthew Reilly, Temple:

     Shouts and screams burst out from the television's speakers

   • 2008, Tom Wolfe, Bonfire of the Vanities:

     They began scurrying to the sides, to make way for the rogue galaxy of bodies that had just burst out of the courtroom

2. (intransitive) To display sudden powerful emotion.
   • 1993, Leslie Feinberg, Stone butch blues:

     My parents exchanged amused glances and burst out laughing.

3. (intransitive) To speak emotionally or suddenly
   • 2007, Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Sport of the Gods:

     As soon as the woman's back was turned, Joe burst out, "There, there! see what you've done with your damned foolishness."

Usage notes

• (appear suddenly): Usually burst + out of, though burst out + from is possible.
• (emotional display): particularly used as burst out laughing or burst out crying, or with another present participle. Consider also burst into laughter, burst into tears.

Translations

to appear suddenly from within something else

Finnish: purskahtaa (fi), syöksähtää, ryöpsähtää (fi) German: hervorbrechen (de), herausbrechen Latin: ērumpō Romanian: izbucni (ro)

to speak emotionally or suddenly

Welsh: taro allan

Anagrams

• outburst, subtutor