▪ I. burp, v. slang (orig. U.S.).
(bɜːp)
[Imitative.]
1. intr. To belch. Hence ˈburping vbl. n. and ppl. a., belching or making a similar sound.
| 1932 Amer. Speech VII. 330 Burp, to belch. 1934 Etude Aug. 456/3 Saxophonists also go in for this slapping effect; when done by the larger members of the family, it bears a ludicrous resemblance to the ‘burping’ of a frog. 1939 I. Baird Waste Heritage xii. 150 Charlie settled back on the burping springs. 1953 W. R. Burnett Vanity Row xvii. 131 He belched, ‘It's an old Arab custom... You no like food—no burp—host insulted.’ 1958 Spectator 6 June 726/3 At the hot springs the mud bubbles and burps. |
2. trans. To cause to belch or bring up wind.
| 1940 in Amer. Speech (1941) XVI. 145/2 Chronic air swallowers should be ‘burped’ three or four times..during each feeding. 1950 Lancet 4 Feb. 218/1 In the U.S.A. babies are ‘burped’ during and at the end of feeds. 1968 ‘G. Bagby’ Another Day ii. 28 ‘What would you do with a baby?’ I asked. ‘Feed it, diaper it, and burp it,’ she said. |
▪ II. burp, n. slang (orig. U.S.).
(bɜːp)
[f. the vb.]
1. A belch. Also transf. and fig.
| 1932 Amer. Speech VII. 330 Burp, sound made when belching. 1946 P. Kesten Radio Alphabet 18 Burp, an interloping noise on transmitting or receiving stations. 1951 J. Masters Nightrunners of Bengal v. 64 He forced a small musical burp and giggled. 1957 Observer 3 Nov. 19/7 Hollywood gives vent to one of its periodic burps of sentiment over an entertainer whose sorrows drove him to the bottle. 1962 V. Nabokov Pale Fire 22 A comfortable burp told me he had a flask of brandy concealed about his warmly coated person. |
2. burp gun (see quot. 1946). Army slang.
| 1945 Finito! Po Valley Campaign 41 The whirr of burp guns. 1946 Amer. Speech XXI. 246 Practically any type of German automatic or semi-automatic small arm was apt to be described as a burp gun, presumably from the resemblance of shots or short bursts of fire to hiccoughs; but I have been told by a combat infantryman that the name is properly applicable only to the Schmeisser machine pistol. |