Meaning of burn In English

• 0 to be hurt, damaged, or destroyed by fire or extreme heat, or to cause this to happen:

  • He was badly burned in the blaze.

  • She burned his old love letters.

  • Unable to escape, six people were burned alive/burned to death (= died by burning) in the building.

  • I've burnt the sausages.

  • If the top of the cake starts to burn, cover it with foil.

  • Is something burning in the kitchen?

  • Use sun cream or you'll burn.

  • I've burned the tops of my shoulders.

  • The building was burned to the ground ten years ago.

  • I forgot about the lasagne and it was burned to a crisp.

• 1 to be on fire, or to produce flames:

  • The wood was wet and would not burn.

  • Helplessly we watched our house burning.

  • A fire was burning brightly in the fireplace.

• 2 to use something such as fuel or energy:

  • The refrigerated trucks that carry the produce burn a lot of fossil fuel.

  • Racers can burn 10,000 calories and lose two gallons of sweat while competing.

• 3 to produce light:

  • I saw a light burning in her window.

• 4 If your face or skin burns or if something burns it, it feels very hot:

  • His face burned with embarrassment/shame.

  • He was burning with anger.

  • The brandy burned my throat.

• 5 to want to do something very much:

  • She was burning to tell us her news.

• 6 to copy information, recorded music, images, etc. onto a CD:

  • Burn your favourite songs or your important files onto CDs.

• 7 a place where fire or heat has hurt or damaged something:

  • One rescue worker caught in the explosion sustained severe burns.

  • I noticed a cigarette burn in the carpet.

• 8 a small stream

• 9 an insult or criticism, usually a clever and funny one:

  • She said you were too old for her? Ooh, burn!

• 10 to produce flames and heat:

  • [ I ] A fire still burned in the fireplace.

  • [ I ] Some new fuels burn more efficiently than gasoline.

  • [ M ] Running is a good way to burn off calories.

• 11 to hurt, damage, or destroy something by fire or extreme heat:

  • She burned her hand on the hot iron.

  • People still burn trash although it’s illegal.

  • The toast was burned to a crisp (= burned until it was black).

  • He got burned in an investment and lost a lot of money.

• 12 a placed where fire or heat has hurt or damaged something:

  • One worker had severe burns on his face and hands.

• 13 to copy information, recorded music, images, etc. onto a CD:

  • burn sth to/onto sth The service allows consumers to download a movie, but not to burn it onto a DVD.

• 14 to lose money in a business deal:

  • Many investors were badly burned.

• 15 if money is burning a hole in your pocket, you are very eager to spend it

• 16 to work very hard as well as doing other things such as going out late at night, so that you get very little rest

• 17 to work late into the night

• 18 to lose money in a high-risk business deal:

  • We've had our fingers burned in the past by holding too many risky stocks.