burn¹ /bûrn/

1. To consume or injure by fire or great heat
2. To produce an effect of heat on (as to bake pottery, produce charcoal, calcine lime, scorch food, wither grass)
3. To brand
4. To oxidize
5. To make a copy of (a CD-ROM)
6. To use (up), eg uranium, in a nuclear reactor (usu with up)
7. To corrode
8. To sting
9. To make (a hole, etc) by fire or analogous means

1. To be burnt
2. To be on fire
3. To give out heat or light
4. To glow
5. To feel very hot
6. To sting
7. To be inflamed with passion

1. A hurt or mark due to burning
2. A controlled fire to reduce vegetation, or the area so cleared (N American, Aust, NZ)
3. The firing of a rocket engine in order to produce thrust
4. Tobacco, a smoke, a cigarette (slang)
5. A very fast ride, etc on a motorcycle, in a speedboat, etc
6. Pain felt in a muscle, experienced during demanding exercise

burnˈer noun

1. A person or thing that burns
2. A fixture or part of a lamp, gas jet or gas cooker from which a flame comes

burnˈing noun

1. The act of consuming by fire
2. Conflagration
3. Inflammation
4. A quantity burned at one time
5. Controlled expenditure of rocket propellant for course adjustment purposes

1. Very hot
2. Scorching
3. Ardent
4. Excessive

burnˈingly adverb

burn bag noun

A bag or other receptacle used to hold classified documents that are to be destroyed after a certain period of time

burnˈ-in noun

A test of the reliability of computer hardware or software involving a period of extended use

burning bush noun

1. The emblem of the Church of Scotland and other Presbyterian churches, with the motto ‘Nec tamen consumebatur’, referring to the Covenanters overcoming the persecutions of the 17c (from Bible, Exodus 3.2)
2. Applied to various plants, such as dittany, whose volatile oil may catch fire in the air, some American species of spindle-tree with bright-red fruits, artillery-plant, etc

burnˈing-glass noun

A convex lens concentrating the sun's rays at its focus to produce fire or heat

burnˈing-house noun

A kiln

burning issue see burning question below.

burnˈing-mirror noun

A concave mirror for producing fire or heat by concentrating the sun's rays

burning mountain noun

A volcano

burnˈing-point noun

The temperature at which a volatile oil in an open vessel will take fire from a match held close to its surface

burning question or burning issue noun

One keenly discussed

burn-out see burn out below.

burn rate noun (finance)

The rate at which a new company spends its capital

burnt almonds plural noun

Almonds in burnt sugar

burnt cork noun

Charred cork used for blacking the face

burnt-corkˈ transitive verb

burnt cream noun

Crème brûlée

burntˈ-ear noun

Smut in oats, wheat, etc

burnˈ-the-wind noun (Scot)

A blacksmith

burnt ochre see under ochre

burnt-offˈering noun

Something offered and burned on an altar as a sacrifice (also facetious)

burnt sienna see sienna under Sienese

burnt umber see under umber¹

burnˈ-up noun

The using up of fuel in a nuclear reactor

burn a hole in one's pocket

Said of money when one is eager to spend it

burn blue see under blue¹

burn daylight (Shakespeare)

To waste time

burn down

To burn to the ground

burned out

Ineffective, exhausted

• battle-axe section
• battlebus
• battlebuses
• battlebusses
• battle-cries
• battle-cruiser
• battle-cruisers
• battle-cry
• battled
• battledoor
• battledoors
• battledore
• battledores
• battledress
• battledresses
• battle fatigue
• battlefield
• battlefields
• battleground
• battlegrounds
• battlement
• battlemented
• battlements
• battle-piece
• battle-pieces