Outburst

'aʊtbɜːrst

nounmediumCommonGeneral

Definitions

2 meanings
1

A sudden and violent expression of emotion or action.

'aʊtbɜːrst

nounnegativemedium
General

A sudden, violent expression of emotion or action.

His outburst of laughter startled everyone in the room.

💡 Simply: Imagine your friend is super mad! An outburst is like when all that anger comes bursting out, maybe with yelling or crying. It's like when a balloon pops suddenly!

👶 For kids: When you get super, super mad or excited and it just comes out all at once!

More Examples

2

The argument ended with an angry outburst.

3

A sudden outburst of applause erupted after her performance.

How It's Used

General

"She had an outburst of anger after hearing the news."

Psychology

"The patient experienced an emotional outburst due to stress."

2

A sudden and often intense occurrence of something, usually unexpected.

'aʊtbɜːrst

nounneutralmedium
General

A sudden occurrence of something.

The storm brought an unexpected outburst of rain.

💡 Simply: Sometimes, things happen quickly and unexpectedly! An outburst can also be a sudden increase of something, like a quick burst of wind or a big wave of people all buying something at once.

👶 For kids: When something happens really fast and all of a sudden!

More Examples

2

There was an outburst of new product releases by the company.

3

An outburst of energy allowed the team to win.

How It's Used

Meteorology

"A sudden outburst of wind caused the boat to capsize."

Financial

"An outburst of buying sent the stock price soaring."

Tip:Think of a sudden, unexpected event, like a sudden burst of rain.

Idioms & expressions

an outburst of...

Describes the type of expression, feeling, or activity that suddenly occurred.

"An outburst of anger."

From Middle English 'outbrest', from Old English 'ūtberstan' (to burst out), combining 'ūt' (out) and 'berstan' (to burst).

The word 'outburst' has been used since the 16th century, primarily to describe sudden eruptions of emotion or activity.

Memory tip

Think of a volcano erupting; the outburst is the sudden explosion of emotion.

Base: burst
outbustoutburts

Usage

60%Spoken
40%Written