to burst out laughing
8
2.4
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
estallar en risa
- The two children burst out laughing when they saw their long, fluffy tails.
- suddenly burst out laughing
- just burst out laughing
- try not to burst out laughing
And he just looked at me and he just burst out laughing like that.
- And he just looked at me and he just burst out laughing like that.
- I walked on stage and for some reason I burst out laughing and I did not stop.
- I mean, it's so mispronounced that you would burst out laughing probably.
- You know, she just gags and she just burst out laughing.
- Upon receiving this Barb, Aratus is said to have burst out laughing.
Examples
-
At the look on her face, the other two burst out laughing.
Fiction book (1999) -
After hearing the joke, everyone in the room burst out laughing.
-
And he just looked at me and he just burst out laughing like that.
-
And then hearing himself do that, he burst out laughing and signed the kids paper.
-
I can see now that he was trying not to burst out laughing.
Academic text (2015) -
I look back up, just in time to see the four of them burst out laughing.
Fiction book (1996) -
The woman had such a serious voice and such huge feet that I burst out laughing.
Fiction book (1993) -
Buenaventura asked what "hot dog" meant and burst out laughing when he was told.
Fiction book (1996) -
We all looked at each other with smirks and then burst out laughing.
Fiction book (1992) -
Robert Lindsay introduced me as Elvis, and the class burst out laughing.
Academic text (2009)
Synonyms
187
3.5
To suddenly show a strong feeling, often anger
18
3.5
To laugh loudly and without control
17
2.4
To laugh loudly because something is very funny
15
3.4
Laugh loudly and without control
9
3.0
Start laughing very hard and cannot stop
3
5.1
To make loud, long sounds because something is very funny
1
8.6
To laugh loudly in a silly, noisy way
1
3.5
To make loud sounds you cannot stop because something is very funny
1
5.6
To laugh very hard
1
9.7
To laugh very hard at something funny online
Feel so amused that you fall over and move on the floor
Laugh so hard that your body shakes
To laugh so hard you almost choke
Laugh loudly and deeply, making your stomach move
To laugh loudly and without control
Antonyms
How Loud
17
2.4
- Informal
8
2.4
∞
1.0
237
2.0
125
1.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'burst' (sudden force) + 'out' (sudden outward action) + 'laugh' (to make sounds of amusement), so a learner who knows the words can infer 'suddenly start laughing'. This sudden-onset construction (e.g., 'burst into laughter') is a common, compositional pattern cross-linguistically, making it readily understandable to B1 learners.
Etymology
Burst out laughing gives the image of a laugh that bursts out of someone all at once, like a balloon popping, and laughing suddenly breaking the quiet. That's why it means 'to suddenly start laughing loudly'.