How to say "burst" in Japanese

• バーストCommon
  noun, suru verb, intransitive verbA katakana loanword covering the sudden bursting of things like tires and pipes — a blowout or rupture. Use it when English 'burst' refers to this kind of physical failure.
• 裂けるさけるJLPT N1approx.Common
  ichidan verb, intransitive verbAn intransitive verb for the split-and-tear side of 'burst': something coming apart or tearing open, as cloth or paper does, rather than exploding with force.
  この布ぬのは裂さけやすい。↗

  This cloth tears easily.
• 決壊けっかいCommon
  noun, suru verb, transitive verb, intransitive verbA noun for the bursting or breaching of dams, embankments, and levees — also a washout or collapse. It is not a general-purpose word for things bursting; outside such structures it does not apply.
  大雨おおあめのためにダムが決壊けっかいした。↗

  The dam burst owing to the heavy rain.
• 沸き起こるわきおこるCommon
  godan verb, intransitive verbThe figurative burst: emotions, cheers, or applause welling up and bursting forth. It does not describe the physical bursting of objects at all.
  宇宙うちゅう飛行士ひこうし達たちは自然しぜんと湧き起わきおこった拍手はくしゅで迎むかえられた。↗

  The astronauts were greeted with spontaneous applause.
• 吹っ切れるふっきれるCommon
  ichidan verb, intransitive verbOnly for a boil or abscess bursting open; elsewhere its meaning is about breaking free of something, so for any other kind of burst it is not the word you want.

Use 「バースト」 for tires and pipes, 「裂ける」 for tearing or splitting, 決壊 for dams and levees, 「沸き起こる」 for emotions or applause bursting forth, and 「吹っ切れる」 only for boils and abscesses.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• バーストburst (tire, pipe, etc.)
• 裂けるさけるto split
• 決壊けっかいburst (e.g. dam, embankment, levee)
• 沸き起こるわきおこるto well up
• 張り裂けるはりさけるto burst (open)
• はちきれるto be filled to bursting
• ほころばすto rip up (a seam)
• 巻き起こるまきおこるto arise
• つんざくto break
• 劈へきbreak
• 吹っ切れるふっきれるto burst (of a boil, abscess, etc.)
• きれるto break