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PlainSpell

burst

UK /bɜːst/verb, noun

burst is spelled B-U-R-S-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,595th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, burst means “To break from internal pressure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in burst?

Letters5: B-U-R-S-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing14 times per million words; the 5,595th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is burst?

Burst appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,595th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce burst?

  • UK /bɜːst/
  • British /bəːst/
  • /bʌɾst/

Burst has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-burst.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with burst?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as burst from its last stressed vowel (/ɜst/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: strub.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of burst

  • bursts present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • bursting participle, present
  • bursten participle, past, rare
  • brast
  • brust

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does burst mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To break from internal pressure.

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

  2. 2

    To cause to break from internal pressure.

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

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo cause to break by any means.

  4. 4

    To separate (printer paper) at perforation lines.

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

  5. 5

    To enter or exit hurriedly and unexpectedly.

  6. 6

    To erupt; to change state suddenly as if bursting.

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

  7. 7

    To produce as an effect of bursting.

    to burst a hole through the wall

  8. 8

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

noun

  1. 1

    An act or instance of bursting.

    The bursts of the bombs could be heard miles away.

  2. 2

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

    I read it in two bursts.

  3. 3

    A series of shots fired from an automatic firearm.

  4. 4

    The explosion of a bomb or missile.

    a ground burst; a surface burst

  5. 5

    archaicA drinking spree.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Burst in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchéclater (to break from internal pressure), faire éclater, rompre, briser (to cause to burst), éclatement, explosion (instance or act of bursting)
Germanplatzen, zerplatzen, bersten (to break from internal pressure), sprengen (to cause to burst), Bersten, Zerbrechen (instance or act of bursting)
Portuguesearrebentar, estourar (to break from internal pressure), estouro, explosão (instance or act of bursting)
Spanishreventar (to break from internal pressure), romper (to cause to burst), ráfaga, estallo, reventón, estallido (instance or act of bursting)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does burst come from?

From Middle English bresten, bersten, from Old English berstan, from Proto-West Germanic *brestan, from Proto-Germanic *brestaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰres- (“to burst, break, crack, split, separate”), enlargement of *bʰreHi- (“to snip, split”). See also West Frisian boarste, Dutch barsten, Danish briste, Swedish brista; also Irish bris (“to break”)). More at brine. Also cognate to debris.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after burst