burst out v 1: give sudden release to an expression; "We burst out laughing"; "'I hate you,' she burst out" 2: appear suddenly; "Spring popped up everywhere in the valley" [syn: {pop out}] 3: erupt or intensify suddenly; "Unrest erupted in the country"; "Tempers flared at the meeting"; "The crowd irrupted into a burst of patriotism" [syn: {erupt}, {irrupt}, {flare up}, {flare}, {break open}]