Burned Burning Burn Burnt I Fire House People

• a welcoming fire was burning in the fireplace.
• fires were burning all over the city.
• by nightfall the whole city was burning.
• two children were rescued from the burning car.

burn

1. to produce flames and heat
• A welcoming fire was burning in the fireplace.
• Fires were burning all over the city.
2. to be on fire
• By nightfall the whole city was burning.
• Two children were rescued from the burning car.
• The smell of burning rubber filled the air.
3. to destroy, damage, injure or kill somebody/something by fire; to be destroyed, etc. by fire
• to burn waste paper/dead leaves
• All his belongings were burnt in the fire.
• The cigarette burned a hole in the carpet.
• The house was burnt to the ground (= completely destroyed).
• The house burned to the ground.
• Ten people burned to death in the hotel fire.
• His greatest fear is of being burnt alive.
4. if you burn a fuel, or a fuel burns, it produces heat, light or energy
• a furnace that burns gas/oil/coke
• Some people burn calories (= use food to produce energy) faster than others.
• Which fuel burns most efficiently?
5. if food burns, or if you burn it, it is spoiled because it gets too hot
• I can smell something burning in the kitchen.
• Sorry—I burnt the toast.
6. to be damaged or injured by the sun, heat, acid, etc.; to damage or injure somebody/something in this way
• See related entries: The sun and the moon
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/topic/the_sun_and_the_moon/burn_1
• My skin burns easily (= in the sun).
• I got badly burned by the sun yesterday.
• The soup's hot. Don't burn your mouth.
• I burned myself on the stove.
• She burned all his letters.
• The house burned down in 1995.
• The bodies had been charred beyond recognition.
• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it.
• He singed his hair as he tried to light his cigarette.
7. 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.
• My feet hurt.
• Ouch! That hurt!
• I’m aching all over.
• Our eyes were burning from the chemicals in the air.
• My eyes were stinging from the smoke.
• The cold air made her face tingle.
• I itch all over.
• Does the rash itch?
• His head throbbed painfully.
8. to produce light
• Lights were burning upstairs, but no one answered the door.
9. to feel a very strong emotion or desire
• to be burning with rage/ambition/love
• He was burning to go climbing again.
10. to move very fast in a particular direction
• The car was burning down the road.
11. to make somebody very angry
• So you did it just to burn me?
12. to put information onto a CD or DVD
13. to spend money quickly; to spend more more than is expected or reasonable
• see also burn rate
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/burn-rate
• The project burns £2 million a year in contractor costs.
• Schweitzer said the state has already burned through cash reserves set aside for this purpose.
14. 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.
15. to become very tired by trying to do too many things and going to bed late and getting up early
16. 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.
17. if money burns a hole in your pocket, you want to spend it as soon as you have it
18. to study or work until late at night
19. to drive very fast
• See related entries: Driving
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/topic/driving/burn_2
20. to cook something for too long or with too much heat, so that it becomes badly burnt
• By the time I got home, the cake was burnt to a cinder.
21. 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.
• He continued to crash and burn through personal controversies that included driving drunk.
22. 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!’
23. to think or imagine that other people are talking about you
24. to have so much money that you do not have to be careful with it

Extra Examples

• Bishop Tunstall preached a sermon against the book, after which copies were ceremonially burnt.
• Fresh leaves will burn slowly with billows of smoke.
• He was burning with indignation.
• Her eyes burned fiercely.
• Her skin seemed to burn at his touch.
• His cheeks burned with embarrassment.
• I like my steak burnt to a cinder on the outside and blood red and juicy inside.
• Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.
• Several people were burned to death.
• She could sense the anger burning slowly inside him.
• The building was burned to the ground.
• The car was found abandoned in a wood, completely burnt out.
• The factory burned down last year.
• The fire was still burning fiercely.
• The tower was struck by lightning and was burned to a cinder.
• Their torches burned brightly in the dark.
• fair skin that burns easily
• hot sunshine burning through the windows
• By night the whole city was burning.
• His greatest fear is of being burnt alive.
• Our eyes were burning from the chemicals in the air.
• Protesters threatened to burn down the house.
• She burned all his letters.
• Sorry—I burned the toast.
• The flame in the oil lamp burned steadily.
• The house burned down in 1995.
• The house was burnt to the ground by protesters.
• The soup’s hot. Don’t burn your mouth.
• The spacecraft burned up as it entered the earth’s atmosphere.
• Your forehead’s burning. Have you got a fever?

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they burn
• he / she / it burns
• past simple burnt
• past participle burnt
• past simple burned
• past participle burned
• -ing form burning

Word Origin

• verb Old English birnan ‘be on fire’ and bærnan ‘consume by fire’, both from the same Germanic base; related to German brennen.