burn (bûrn) verb
burned or burnt (bûrnt) burning, burns verb, transitive
1.a. To cause to undergo combustion. b. To destroy with fire: burned the trash; burn a house down. c. To consume (fuel or energy, for example): burned all the wood that winter.
2.Physics. To cause to undergo nuclear fission or fusion.
3.To damage or injure by fire, heat, radiation, electricity, or a caustic agent: burned the toast; burned my skin with the acid.
4.a. To execute or kill with fire: burning heretics at the stake. b. To execute by electrocution.
5.a. To make or produce by fire or heat: burn a hole in the rug. b. To dispel; dissipate: The sun burned off the fog.
6.a. To use as a fuel: a furnace that burns coal. b. To metabolize (glucose, for example) in the body.
7.To impart a sensation of intense heat to: The chili burned my mouth.
8.a. To irritate or inflame, as by chafing or sunburn. b. To let (oneself or a part of one's body) become sunburned.
9.To brand (an animal).
10.To harden or impart a finish to by subjecting to intense heat; fire: burn clay pots in a kiln.
11.To make angry: That remark really burns me.
12.a. To defeat in a contest, especially by a narrow margin. b. To inflict harm or hardship on; hurt: "Huge loan losses have burned banks in recent years" (Christian Science Monitor). c. To swindle or deceive; cheat: We really got burned on the used car we bought.
verb, intransitive
1.a. To undergo combustion. b. To admit of burning: Wood burns easily.
2.To consume fuel: a rocket stage designed to burn for three minutes before being jettisoned.
3.Physics. To undergo nuclear fission or fusion.
4.a. To emit heat or light by or as if by fire: campfires burning in the dark; the sun burning brightly in the sky. b. To become dissipated or to be dispelled by or as if by heat: The fog burned off as the sun came up.
5.To give off light; shine: a light burning over the door.
6.To be destroyed, injured, damaged, or changed by or as if by fire: a house that burned to the ground; eggs that burned and stuck to the pan.
7.a. To be very hot; bake: a desert burning under the midday sun. b. To feel or look hot: a child burning with fever. c. To impart a sensation of heat: a liniment that burns when first applied.
8.a. To become irritated or painful, as by chafing or inflammation: eyes burning from the smoke. b. To become sunburned or windburned.
9.To be consumed with strong emotion, especially:. a. To be or become angry: an insult that really made me burn. b. To be very eager: was burning with ambition.
10.To penetrate by or as if by intense heat or flames: enemy ground radar burning through the fighters' electronic jammers; a look that burned into them.
11.To be vividly or painfully present: shame burning in my heart.
12.a. To suffer punishment or death by or as if by fire: souls burning in hell. b. To be electrocuted.
noun
1.An injury produced by fire, heat, radiation, electricity, or a caustic agent.
2.A burned place or area: a cigarette burn in the tablecloth.
3.The process or result of burning: The fire settled down to a steady burn.
4.A stinging sensation: the burn of alcohol on an open wound.
5.A sunburn or windburn.
6.Aerospace. A firing of a rocket.
7.A swindle.
- phrasal verb.
burn out
1.To stop burning from lack of fuel.
2.To wear out or make or become inoperative as a result of heat or friction: The short circuit burned out the fuse.
3.To cause (a property owner or a resident) to have to evacuate the premises because of fire: The shopkeeper was burned out by arsonists.
4.To make or become exhausted, especially as a result of long-term stress: "Hours are long, stress is high, and many recruits drop out or burn out" (Robert J. Samuelson).
burn up
1.To make angry: Their rudeness really burns me up.
2.To travel over or through at high speed: drag racers burning up the track.
- idiom.
burn (one's) bridges
To eliminate the possibility of return or retreat.
burn the candle at both ends or burn one's candle at both ends
To exhaust oneself or one's resources by leading a hectic or extravagant life.
burn the midnight oil
To work or study very late at night.
to burn
In great amounts: They had money to burn.
[Middle English burnen, from Old English beornan, to be on fire, and from bærnan, to set on fire.]
Synonyms: burn, scorch, singe, sear, char, parch. These verbs mean to injure or alter by means of intense heat or flames. Burn, the most general, applies to the effects of exposure to a source of heat or to something that can produce a similar effect: burned the rug with a cigarette; left the onions on the stove and burned them; burned my fingers by handling dry ice. Scorch usually refers to contact with flame or heated metal and involves superficial burning that discolors or damages the texture of something: afraid that the iron might scorch the sheet; trees that were scorched in a forest fire. Singe specifies superficial burning by brief exposure to flame and especially the deliberate removal of projections such as bristles or feathers from a carcass, such as a plucked fowl, before cooking: a grease fire that singed my eyelashes; singed the Thanksgiving turkey, then roasted it. Sear applies to surface burning of organic tissue, as by branding or cauterizing: Sear the lamb over high heat before lowering the flame and adding liquid. To char is most often to reduce a substance to carbon or charcoal by means of fire: The timbers of the house were charred by the raging fire. Parch in this sense emphasizes the drying and often fissuring of a surface from exposure to flame, the sun, or hot wind: The torrid rays of the sun parched the soil.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.
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