どっと

Usage

どっと + verb

Marks an arrival rather than a process: a mass of people, work, or feeling that was held back somewhere else lands all at once. This is why it so often follows a moment of release — a punchline, an opening door, the end of an exam.
The subject is overwhelmed by the volume, not merely surprised by the timing. どっと疲(つか)れが出(で)る is the classic case: the tiredness was accumulating unnoticed and arrives in one wave once the strain lifts.

Common collocations

• どっと押(お)し寄(よ)せる (to surge in)
• どっと湧(わ)く (to well up suddenly)
• どっと泣(な)く (to burst into tears)
• どっと笑(わら)う (to burst out laughing)
• どっと倒(たお)れる (to collapse)
• どっと疲(つか)れが出(で)る (to be hit by exhaustion)

Similar words

• 一気(いっき)に: all at once, in one go. Controlled and often deliberate — you drink or finish something 一気に; どっと is what happens to you.
• 急(きゅう)に: suddenly. About timing only, with no sense of volume.
• ばっと: in a flash. Quick and sharp, typically one action or one person, where どっと implies mass.