burn
burn
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "burn" is /bɜːrn/.
Syllable 1:
/b/ - voiced bilabial stop
/ɜː/ - open-mid central unrounded vowel (r-colored)
/rn/ - rhotic consonant followed by a voiced alveolar nasal
Word Form Variations
Verb:
Base form: burn
Third-person singular present: burns
Present participle: burning
Past tense: burned (or burnt)
Past participle: burned (or burnt)
Noun:
Singular: burn
Plural: burns
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Verb
To consume or be consumed by fire or heat, resulting in damage, destruction, or transformation.
Example: The old shed burned to the ground.
Synonyms: ignite, char, scorch, cremate, incinerate
Antonyms: extinguish, quench, cool, douse
To produce or emit light or heat, especially through combustion.
Example: The candle burned brightly in the darkness.
Synonyms: glow, radiate, blaze, flicker, smolder
Antonyms: darken, fade, dim
To feel a sensation of intense heat, often accompanied by pain or discomfort.
Example: Her skin began to burn after being in the sun all day.
Synonyms: sting, tingle, smart, scald, sear
Antonyms: numb, soothe, cool, relieve
To use fuel or energy rapidly or in large quantities.
Example: The old car burns a lot of oil.
Synonyms: consume, use up, expend, deplete
Antonyms: conserve, save, economize
To create or form something by means of fire or intense heat.
Example: The artist burned the design into the wood.
Synonyms: brand, etch, cauterize
Antonyms: remove, erase, smooth
(Figurative) To feel a strong emotion intensely, often anger, passion, or shame.
Example: He burned with indignation at the injustice.
Synonyms: seethe, rage, simmer, smolder, yearn
Antonyms: calm, cool, placid, indifferent
Noun
An injury or mark caused by fire, heat, or a corrosive agent.
Example: She received a minor burn on her hand from the hot pan.
Synonyms: scald, singe, blister, lesion, char
Antonyms: healing, recovery, restoration
The act or process of consuming by fire or heat.
Example: The burn of the debris took several hours.
Synonyms: combustion, incineration, conflagration, immolation
Antonyms: extinction, dousing, quenching
A feeling of intense heat or stinging, often associated with physical exertion or irritation.
Example: He felt the burn in his muscles after the long run.
Synonyms: ache, sting, soreness, discomfort
Antonyms: comfort, relief, ease
Examples of Use
Books:
"The memory of her words continued to burn in his mind long after she had left." (From "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah, published 2015)
"He watched the log burn down to embers, lost in thought." (From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer, published January 1996)
Newspapers:
"Firefighters battled for hours to contain the brush fire, which threatened to burn several homes." (As reported in The Los Angeles Times)
"The new policy aims to burn through bureaucratic red tape, expediting project approvals." (Reported in The Wall Street Journal)
Online Publications:
"Is your phone battery draining too fast? Here’s how to stop it from burning through power." (From an article on CNET)
"Researchers are observing how different materials burn under microgravity conditions on the International Space Station." (As discussed in a scientific article on NASA.gov)
Various Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:
Film: "May the odds be ever in your favor." "I volunteer as tribute!" "I burn, I burn, I burn for Katniss Everdeen." (A line from a fan, referencing "The Hunger Games" film series, 2012-2015)
Music: "And it's a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring. Bound by wild desire, I fell into a ring of fire." (From the song "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash, released April 1963)
Television Series: "This place will burn to the ground before I let you take it!" (A dramatic line from the TV series Game of Thrones, Season 8, May 2019)
Video Games: "You took too much, you flew too high, you burned too brightly." (A dialogue line in the video game Cyberpunk 2077, December 2020)
General Public Discourse:
"I'm so stressed out, I feel like I'm going to burn out at work." (A common complaint heard in conversations about workplace stress, ongoing)
"Don't burn your bridges with your old employer; you might need them later." (A common idiom used in advice, ongoing)
"Did you get that burn on your arm from cooking?" (A question often asked when noticing a minor injury, ongoing)
"He really got a good burn in his quads after that intense workout." (A common phrase among fitness enthusiasts, ongoing)
10 Quotes Using Burn
"It is better to burn out than to fade away." (Neil Young, from the song "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)," 1979)
"You can't burn the books and still expect to have the ideas." (D.A. Levy)
"Love is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring." (June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore, "Ring of Fire," 1963)
"We must burn the midnight oil." (Traditional saying, often attributed to various scholars)
"To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can inflict on ourselves." (Federico García Lorca)
"The more you try to erase me, the more I burn through." (Lady Gaga, from the song "Judas," 2011)
"Don't burn your bridges." (Common idiom)
"Let your soul burn through the darkness." (Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist, 1988)
"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not. To burn always with this hard gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life." (Walter Pater, Studies in the History of the Renaissance, 1873)
"The desire to create, to burn, to grow, to be reborn, to be, is the great adventure of life." (Henry Miller)
Etymology
The word "burn" has a long history, tracing its roots back to ancient Germanic languages.
In simple terms, "burn" comes from the Proto-Germanic word brennaną. Proto-Germanic is like the ancient ancestor language of many modern languages, including English, German, Dutch, and the Scandinavian languages.
This ancient word brennaną already carried the core meaning of "to be on fire" or "to be consumed by fire."
When English started forming as a language, around the Old English period (before 1150 AD), the verb "burn" (or its earlier forms like birnan or bærnan) was already in use with this same basic meaning of "to be on fire" or "to set something on fire." So, its first known meaning is very much consistent with how we use it today.
Interestingly, for a while in Middle English (roughly 1150-1500 AD), a different spelling, "brenne," was more common, but "burn" eventually took over. The noun form of "burn," referring to an injury caused by fire, appeared a bit later, in the mid-1500s.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Burn
Burn the midnight oil: To work late into the night.
Burn bridges: To destroy relationships or opportunities, making it impossible to return.
Burn out: To become exhausted, either physically or mentally, from overwork or stress. (Also used as a noun: "suffering from burnout.")
Burn a hole in one's pocket: When money is spent very quickly as soon as it's received.
Burn rubber: To accelerate quickly in a vehicle, causing the tires to spin and smoke.
Have a burning desire: To have a very strong and intense wish or longing for something.
Burn up: To destroy completely by fire; also, to be very angry or have a high fever.
Get burned: To suffer a financial loss or be badly cheated.
Fiddle while Rome burns: To deal with trivial matters while important issues are neglected and a crisis unfolds.
To burn one's boats/ships: To do something that makes it impossible to return to an earlier position or state, committing irrevocably to a course of action.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of burn from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
