burst

be bulging/bursting at the seams (informal)

if a place is bursting at the seams, it has a very large number of people or things in it. All my family came to stay for the wedding and our little house was bursting at the seams.

See also: seam

the bubble bursts

a very happy or successful period of time suddenly ends. The economy was booming, then the bubble burst with the stockmarket crash of October 1987. (usually in past tenses)

See also: bubble

burst the bubble

the bubble bursts - a very happy or successful period of time suddenly ends. Their first argument burst the bubble.

See also: bubble

burst/bust a blood vessel (informal)

1. to use a lot of effort doing something. I'd like the designs as soon as possible, but don't bust a blood vessel!

2. to become very angry and start shouting. He nearly burst a blood vessel when he heard what they'd done to his car.

See also: blood, bust, vessel

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burst someone's bubble

to tell someone unexpected bad news. I don't want to burst her bubble by telling her we won't have a vacation this summer. He tries to burst the bubble of anyone who believes population growth is not a problem.

See also: bubble

burst in (on someone/something)

to enter or appear suddenly or unexpectedly. She was in the middle of teaching her writing class when the head of the English department burst in. “Sorry to burst in on you like this,” Nick apologized to the room full of surprised people.

burst into something

to begin to produce a lot of something. The children burst into tears when they saw their ruined toys. The car burst into flames. The whole situation was so ridiculous, I simply burst into laughter.

break into something

burst into tears

to suddenly cry. She burst into tears when she read the rejection letter. Every time I thought about it I'd burst into tears.

See also: tear

burst onto the scene

to suddenly become famous. Marsalis burst onto the scene in the early 1980s and proved that jazz could have its own superstars.

See also: onto, scene

burst out doing something

to suddenly begin making sounds. Everyone burst out laughing. I collapsed in a heap and burst out crying.

burst out of somewhere

to suddenly appear from somewhere. Suddenly I burst out of the tangled brush onto the pavement. The silvery jet burst out of the dark clouds above.

bursting at the seams

1. extremely full or crowded. The courts are bursting at the seams and might not be able to handle more arrests. The city is absolutely bursting at the seams, and one of the biggest complaints people have is the number of cars.

2. containing an unusually large number of people or things. My whole family came to stay for the wedding and our house was bursting at the seams.

See also: seam