noun

burn

noun

An injury to skin or tissue caused by heat, fire, chemicals, or radiation.

"She got a nasty burn from the hot oven tray."

"The doctor treated the burn with a cooling gel."

A sharp, cutting insult, especially one delivered wittily.

""You peaked in high school" — what a burn."

"His comeback was a savage burn that left the room in stitches."

verb

To be damaged, destroyed, or consumed by fire.

"The old barn burned to the ground overnight."

"Dry leaves burn quickly in autumn."

To injure with heat, fire, or a caustic substance.

"He burned his hand on the stove."

"Don't burn yourself on the hot pan handle."

To copy data onto a CD, DVD, or similar disc.

"She burned the photos onto a DVD for her grandmother."

To waste time, money, or other resources.

"The startup burned through its funding in under a year."

To betray or expose someone, especially an informant or agent.

"The spy was burned after his cover was leaked."

How to Use Burn

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishTo be on fire or destroyed by fire, to injure with heat, or (informally) a stinging insult or wasted resource.

Common mistake

Past tense can be "burned" or "burnt" — both are correct; "burnt" is more common in British English, especially as an adjective ("burnt toast").

Common pairings

burn calories burn a CD get burned slow burn sick burn

Word Forms

burned past tense, burnt past tense, brent past tense, burns plural, burn plural, burned plural, burnt plural, burns plural, Burns plural, burns singular, burn singular, burned singular, burnt singular, burnest singular, burnedst singular, burntest singular, burneth singular

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

She got a nasty _____ from the hot oven tray.

Etymology

From Old English forms (bærnan, byrnan) going back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to burn" — a distant relative of the word "brew."

Synonyms

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combust forburn outburn go up torch

Related Words

increase kindle fall rise decrease torch defame incinerate

Rhymes for burn

urn turn churn mourn spurn auburn Saturn return Coburn adjourn sunburn Hepburn

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