Link Centre Dictionary

erupt

UK/ɪˈɹʌpt/ US/ˈirʌpt/ uncommon

verb

1.

start abruptly

  • “After 1989, peace broke out in the former East Bloc”
Synonyms
2.

erupt or intensify suddenly

  • “Unrest erupted in the country”
  • “Tempers flared at the meeting”
  • “The crowd irrupted into a burst of patriotism”
3.

start to burn or burst into flames

  • “Marsh gases ignited suddenly”
  • “The oily rags combusted spontaneously”
4.

as of teeth, for example

  • “The tooth erupted and had to be extracted”
5.

become active and spew forth lava and rocks

  • “Vesuvius erupts once in a while”
6.

force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up

  • “break into tears”
  • “erupt in anger”
Synonyms
7.

appear on the skin

  • “A rash erupted on her arms after she had touched the exotic plant”
8.

become raw or open

  • “He broke out in hives”
  • “My skin breaks out when I eat strawberries”
  • “Such boils tend to recrudesce”

Origin

From Latin eruptus, past participle of ērumpō (“to break out (of), to burst out (from)”), from e (“out”) + rumpō (“to break”).

Related words

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.