BRESTA
sagnorð
pret. brast, pl. brustu; part. brostinn; pres. brest, [A. S. berstan, per metath.; Engl. to burst; Germ. bersten; Swed. brista; Dan. briste]:—to burst, be rent; jörðin brast (the earth burst) undir hesti hans, Nj. 158; steinninn brast, the rock was rent, Bs. i. 5.
β. to break with a crash; brast þú boginn í tvá hluti, Hkr. i. 342, Gísl. 81; brestr röng, the rib of a barrel creaks, Jb. 398: the hoops of a vessel bresta (burst), Fs. 132; skulfu lönd, en brustu bönd (of a tub), Jón Þorl.
2. to crash, of the sound alone; hófarnir brustu í veggjunum, the hoofs dashed against the wall, Grett. 25 new Ed.; hvat brast þar svá hátt, Hkr. i. 342; þá brast strengr á skipi, then twanged the bowstring on the ship, Fms. i. 182; brestandi bogi, the twanging bow, Hm. 84.
β. to burst forth, of a stream, avalanche, or the like; brestr flóð, of an avalanche, Gísl. 33; skriða brast, id., Fms. v. 250; blóð brestr út, the blood bursts out, from a blow, N. G. L. i. 342.
γ. a milit. term, flótti brestr, the ranks break in flight, when the host is seized by panic; þá brast flótti í liði Flosa, Nj. 246; er meginflóttinn brast, Fms. viii. 229; brast þá flótti á Vindum, xi. 233; bardagi brestr, the battle bursts out, begins, (rare and as it seems απ. λεγ.), Fas. i. 34.
δ. b. or b. á, to burst or break out, a storm, gale, cp. Bs. i. 78 (vide however s. v. bera C. IV): b. or b. út, to ebb, but only of the first turning of the tide, Bb. 2. 15; augu b., the eyes break in death, v. auga; hence helbrostið auga.
II. impers., e-n (acc.) brestr e-t (acc.), one lacks, falls short of; brast Sigríði (acc.) fimm tigi hundraða, Dipl. v. 3; ef oss brestr á borði, if we fall short, get the worst of it, Fms. ix. 507; eigi brestr mik árædi, Fs. 62; á mið þau er aldri mun fisk (Ed. wrongly fiskr) b., Bárð. 169; ef eitt orð (acc.) brysti, Fms. iv. 71; hann vissi þessa sína ætlan brostna (frustrated), Bs. i. 289; þat mun aldri b., that will never fail, Grett. 24 new Ed.: hamingjuna brestr, Fms. vi. 155 (Ed. hamingjan).