burp

/bərp/

/bəp/

Other forms: burps; burping; burped

A burp is a belch, or the loud release of trapped air loudly through your mouth. The sound of a burp during a quiet moment makes some people frown and others giggle.

The sound you make when you reflexively let air or gas escape from your mouth is a burp — and to make this noise is to burp. The typical cause of a burp is swallowed air, with some people being able to gulp air and make themselves burp on purpose. Drinking fizzy soda can also make you burp. The word comes from the sound of a burp — it's imitative, and it first appeared in the 1930s.

Definitions of burp

1. noun

   a reflex that expels gas noisily from the stomach through the mouth
   synonyms: belch, belching, burping, eructation

   type of:

   ejection, expulsion, forcing out, projection

   the act of expelling or projecting or ejecting

   inborn reflex, innate reflex, instinctive reflex, physiological reaction, reflex, reflex action, reflex response, unconditioned reflex

   an automatic instinctive unlearned reaction to a stimulus
2. verb

   expel gas from the stomach
   “In China it is polite to burp at the table”

   synonyms: belch, bubble, eruct

   type of:

   breathe, emit, pass off

   expel (gases or odors)