From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishburst into something phrasal verb1 START DOING somethingto suddenly begin to make a sound, especially to start singing, crying, or laughing Claire looked as if she were about to burst into tears. Suddenly, the group burst into laughter. Lydia burst into song.2 burst into flames/flameBURN to suddenly start to burn very strongly Their car crashed and burst into flames. → burst→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
burst into • But the smell was disagreeable and she was afraid that the white linen would burst into flame.• The airliner struck the ground some 50 metres short of the runway, turned over and burst into flames.• When he fired his grin, Sammler, himself nearly a corpse, burst into life.• There were noises to fear-something substantial ripped from the undercarriage and the thumping of a tire burst into shreds.• When I told Miranda, she burst into tears, so I said lets take some flowers.• Afterwards, she went straight to the ladies' room and burst into tears.• He took a deep breath, standing quietly by the door, and then surprised himself by bursting into tears.• The raider, carrying what appeared to be a firearm, burst into Victoria Wines in Woodrow Avenue, Marton, Middlesbrough.burst into song• He felt so happy he wanted to burst into song.• The orchestra played a few notes and the choir burst into song.• And indeed, from this lofty site Loch Arkaig itself is a vision to make you burst into song.• And with that he clasped both hands gently over his chest and burst into song.• When the choir commenced the first carol, even the most self-conscious among them burst into song.• She burst into songs between the stories.• From time to time somebody would burst into song or laughter, and some people continued to whisper on and off all through the night.burst into flames/flame• Dad Mark managed to carry her to safety before the alarm burst into flames.• Directly ahead, a pair of stately old coconut trees burst into flame.• The airliner struck the ground some 50 metres short of the runway, turned over and burst into flames.• Several of the vehicles burst into flames, according to initial reports.• They had both burst into flames after the explosion, police said.• Like a sheet of crepe paper, the wooden house burst into flames and burned to the ground in minutes.• There is just one drawback to their island paradise: every so often it bursts into flame beneath them.• The bomb, thrown out of the Ford Cortina's passenger window, burst into flames in the road. 