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burn(verb)/bɜːn/ /bɜːrn/Verb Forms- to produce flames and heat
- A welcoming fire was burning in the fireplace.
- Fires were burning all over the city.
- A small candle burned brightly.
Extra Examples- Fresh leaves will burn slowly with billows of smoke.
- The fire was still burning fiercely.
- The flame in the oil lamp burned steadily.
- to be on fire
- By nightfall the whole city was burning.
- The girl ran from the burning building.
- Two children were rescued from the burning car.
- They called us to tell us that my aunt's house was burning.
- The smell of burning rubber filled the air.
- to destroy, damage, injure or kill somebody/something by fire; to be destroyed, etc. by fire
- Six million acres have burned this year in the United States.
- The house burned to the ground.
- Ten people burned to death in the hotel fire.
- to burn waste paper/dead leaves
- All his belongings were burnt in the fire.
- The house was burnt to the ground (= completely destroyed).
- The survivors burned the bodies of the victims of the plague.
- Several protesters burned American flags.
- The cigarette burned a hole in the carpet.
- Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.
- His greatest fear is of being burnt alive.
- Many were left with no choice but to burn alive or leap to their deaths from the upper floors.
Extra Examples- Several people were burned to death.
- The building was burned to the ground.
- Bishop Tunstall preached a sermon against the book, after which copies were ceremonially burnt.
- She burned all his letters.
- if you burn a fuel, or a fuel burns, it produces heat, light or energy
- Which fuel burns most efficiently?
- a furnace that burns gas/oil/coke
- Some people burn calories (= use food to produce energy) faster than others.
- if food burns, or if you burn it, it is damaged by too much heat
- I can smell something burning in the kitchen.
- Sorry—I burnt the toast.
- to be damaged or injured by the sun, heat, acid, etc.; to damage or injure somebody/something in this way
- My skin burns easily (= in the sun).
- fair skin that burns easily
- I got badly burned by the sun yesterday.
- I burnt my tongue trying to eat a hot meat pie.
- The soup's hot. Don't burn your mouth.
- His face had been horrifically burnt by acid.
- I burned myself on the stove.
- if part of your body burns or is burning, it feels very hot and painful
- Your forehead's burning. Have you got a fever?
- Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
Extra Examples- Her skin seemed to burn at his touch.
- Our eyes were burning from the chemicals in the air.
- to produce light
- Lights were burning upstairs, but no one answered the door.
- hot sunshine burning through the windows
- Their torches burned brightly in the dark.
- to feel or show a very strong emotion or desire
- Her eyes burned fiercely.
- to be burning with rage/ambition/love
- He was burning to go climbing again.
Extra Examples- He was burning with indignation.
- She could sense the anger burning slowly inside him.
- to move very fast in a particular direction
- The car was burning down the road.
- to make somebody very angry
- So you did it just to burn me?
- to put information onto a CD or DVD
- to spend money
SEE ALSO burn rate
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/burn-rate - The project burns £2 million a year in contractor costs.
- The state has already burned through its cash reserves.
- to do something that makes it impossible to return to the previous situation later
- Think carefully before you resign—you don't want to burn your bridges.
- to become very tired by trying to do too many things and going to bed late and getting up early
- to suffer as a result of doing something without realizing the possible bad results, especially in business
- He got his fingers badly burnt dabbling in the stock market.
- if money burns a hole in your pocket, you want to spend it as soon as you have it
- to study or work until late at night
- to drive very fast
- to become completely burnt, especially because it has been cooked for too long
- By the time I got home, the cake was burnt to a cinder.
Extra Examples- The tower was struck by lightning and was burned to a cinder.
- I like my steak burnt to a cinder on the outside and blood red and juicy inside.
- to go wrong or to fail badly and suddenly
- His career crashed and burned after he threatened a journalist.
- The stock markets are getting ready to crash and burn.
- She continued to crash and burn through personal controversies that included driving drunk.
- a person thinks that other people are talking about them, especially in an unkind way
- ‘I bumped into your ex-wife last night.’ ‘I thought I could feel my ears burning!’
- to have so much money that you do not have to be careful with it
Word Origin- verb Old English birnan ‘be on fire’ and bærnan ‘consume by fire’, both from the same Germanic base; related to German brennen.
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