burn.
A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals.
Meaning & usage
A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals.
She had second-degree burns from falling in the bonfire.
He burnt his hand with acid.
A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals. A mark left behind by a burn; a scorch or scar caused by a burn.
Cut the cigarette burn out from the fabric.
the burn scar on his face
A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals. An abrasion resembling a burn.
carpet burn, rope burn, rug burn, turf burn
A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals. A disease in vegetables, which causes discoloration that looks like a burn.
A sensation resembling an injury from heat or an analogous force; the quality or nature of a burning sensation caused by capsaicin.
I dread the burn of the disinfectant where it enters an open wound.
The burn in my eyes was caused by that bright light.
A sensation resembling an injury from heat or an analogous force; the quality or nature of a burning sensation caused by capsaicin. A physical sensation in the muscles following strenuous exercise, caused by a build-up of lactic acid.
One and, two and, keep moving; feel the burn in your thighs!
A sensation resembling an injury from heat or an analogous force; the quality or nature of a burning sensation caused by capsaicin. Anger, especially slowly mounting in intensity.
a slow burn
The burn of anger remained in him.
A sensation resembling an injury from heat or an analogous force; the quality or nature of a burning sensation caused by capsaicin. An intense non-physical sting, as left by shame or an effective insult.
A sensation resembling an injury from heat or an analogous force; the quality or nature of a burning sensation caused by capsaicin. An intense non-physical sting, as left by shame or an effective insult. An effective insult, especially a clever or funny one.
sick burn
The act or action of burning something with fire, or by analogous means; the quality or nature of an act of burning.
They’re doing a monitored burn of the fields.
We went to the burn site to examine the evidence.
The act or action of burning something with fire, or by analogous means; the quality or nature of an act of burning. The act of using a controlled burn to reduce wildfire risk through use of low-intensity fires to eliminate fuel; a prescribed burn.
The burn will reduce the risk of a forest fire in the fall.
The act or action of burning something with fire, or by analogous means; the quality or nature of an act of burning. The operation or result of burning or baking, as in brickmaking.
They have a good burn.
The act or action of burning something with fire, or by analogous means; the quality or nature of an act of burning. The firing of a spacecraft's rockets in order to change its course.
The act or action of burning something with fire, or by analogous means; the quality or nature of an act of burning. Tobacco.
The act or action of burning something with fire, or by analogous means; the quality or nature of an act of burning. The writing of data to a permanent storage medium like a compact disc or a ROM chip.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenw- Proto-Indo-European *bʰrénuh₁e-? Proto-Germanic *brinnaną Proto-West Germanic *brinnan Old English biernan ▲ Proto-Germanic *brinnaną Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *brannijaną Proto-West Germanic *brannijan Old English bærnan Old Norse brennabor. Middle English brennen English burn From late Middle English burne, birne, metathetic form of brinne, brynne, a variant of brennen, from Old Norse brinna, brenna (“to burn”), from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną (“to burn”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenw-, present stem from *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil”). Doublet of brew. The late metathesis of East Midland brin- to birn- (and subsequently burn-) parallels the phonological development of bird and dirt from brid and drit. As this metathetic form became the Chancery Standard, it displaced the semantic functions and weak conjugation paradigm of the native Old English bærnan (weak), alongside the surviving remnants of byrnan (strong). Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian prönnan (“to burn”), Dutch barnen, branden (“to burn”), German brinnen (“to burn”), Luxembourgish brennen (“to burn”), Vilamovian brīn (“to burn”), Yiddish ברענען (brenen, “to burn”), Danish brænde (“to burn”), Faroese and Icelandic brenna (“to burn”), Norwegian Bokmål brenne (“to burn”), Norwegian Nynorsk brenna, brenne (“to burn”), Swedish brinna (“to burn”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (brinnan, “to burn”); also Cornish bros (“blazing, boiling”), Irish bruth (“heat; eruption; surf”), Welsh brwd (“eager, keen; passionate, zealous”), Latin defrutum (“grape must reduced by boiling”), Ancient Greek πορφύρω (porphúrō, “to boil, heave”), Albanian burth (“Cyclamen hederifolium; mouth burning”), Armenian աղբյուր (aġbyur, “fountain, spring”), Sanskrit भुर्वन् (bhurvan, “runnel, spring”). More at brew.
To be consumed by fire or in flames.
He watched the house burn.
The wood will not burn well because it is wet.
To be consumed by fire or in flames. To contain a fire or coals.
The wood stove was burning, giving off plenty of heat.
The campfire died down, but it's still burning enough to feel some warmth through the night.
To be consumed by fire or in flames. To become overheated to the point of being unusable; to become scorched.
The grill was too hot and the steak burned.
To be consumed by fire or in flames. To be executed by an electric chair.
In this state, he could burn for his crimes.
To be consumed by fire or in flames. To be hot, e.g. due to embarrassment.
The child’s forehead was burning with fever. Her cheeks burned with shame.
To be consumed by fire or in flames. To approach near to a concealed object which is sought, especially in certain games; to be so near as to be figuratively burnt by a hidden target.
You’re cold… warm… hot… you’re burning!
To be consumed by fire or in flames. To desire or ache for (something); to be intense, as a desire.
I burn for her touch.
He tried to get over it, but he burned for revenge against those who wronged him.
To be consumed by fire or in flames. To be converted to another element in a nuclear fusion reaction, especially in a star; to undergo nuclear fusion or nuclear fission.
To warm (something); to put off intense heat; to be hot.
The heat from the open oven burned the air around me.
The sun's rays burned hot today.
To warm (something); to put off intense heat; to be hot. To give off light; to be lit up; to shine so bright as to seem to harm (something).
That bulb has been burning for years.
The spotlight burned my eyes.
To warm (something); to put off intense heat; to be hot. To sunburn.
She forgot to put on sunscreen and burned.
The harsh summer sun burned his skin.
To warm (something); to put off intense heat; to be hot. To irritate; to be or become angry or upset.
After you said that, she was burning all afternoon.
Your comments got him burning.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames.
We'll burn all this wood by morning.
The campfire was ready to go, so she burned it with her lighter.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To ignite (something); to light and smoke (a cigarette, joint, etc.).
She burned a cigarette with her lighter.
I'm going to burn the stove now so the room will start warming up.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To overheat so as to make unusable.
He burned the toast. The blacksmith burned the steel.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To kill by fire.
She was burned at the stake.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To transform using fire.
The factory will burn that wood into charcoal.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To use up; to use by burning; to consume as fuel.
I need to burn some calories.
We can burn a candle tonight.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To use up; to use by burning; to consume as fuel. To waste time, money or other resources.
We have an hour to burn.
The company has burned more than a million dollars a month this year.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To lose motor oil because it leaks into the combustion chamber and ignites along with the fuel.
I think my car is burning oil.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To cauterize.
I had to burn the wound to stop the bleeding.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To harden (bricks, pottery, etc.) in a kiln.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To injure (a person or animal) with heat, flames or scorching.
She burned the child with an iron, and was jailed for ten years.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To injure (a person or animal) with heat, flames or scorching. To insult or defeat.
I just burned you again.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To make or produce by the application of real or figurative fire, light or burning heat.
to burn a hole; to burn letters into a block
The rancher burned his brand into the cow's hide.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To make or produce by the application of real or figurative fire, light or burning heat. To write data to a permanent storage medium like a compact disc or a ROM chip.
We’ll burn this program onto an EEPROM one hour before the demo begins.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To make or produce by the application of real or figurative fire, light or burning heat. To render subtitles into a video's content while transcoding it, making the subtitles part of the image (hardsubs).
My old DVD player could play DivX files but didn't recognize the subtitle file, so I had to burn them in.
To cause to be consumed by fire; to destroy or otherwise impact with fire or flames. To make or produce by the application of real or figurative fire, light or burning heat. To make an area of an image darker (when processing photographs in a darkroom, this is accomplished by increasing the exposure of that area to light).
To consume, damage, or change the condition of, as if by action of fire or heat; to affect as fire or heat does; to injure with acid or other chemical reactions; to be painful as if by fire or heat; to be hot.
Be careful, as that chemical is acidic enough to burn you.
Habaneros burn more intensely than most peppers. They will burn your mouth.
To consume, damage, or change the condition of, as if by action of fire or heat; to affect as fire or heat does; to injure with acid or other chemical reactions; to be painful as if by fire or heat; to be hot. To cause to combine with oxygen or other active agent, with evolution of heat; to consume; to oxidize.
to burn iron in oxygen
A human being burns a certain amount of carbon with each respiration.
To consume, damage, or change the condition of, as if by action of fire or heat; to affect as fire or heat does; to injure with acid or other chemical reactions; to be painful as if by fire or heat; to be hot. To combine energetically, with evolution of heat.
Copper burns in chlorine.
Senses as to a figurative burning action To defeat, overcome or score on.
The Rangers burned the visiting team.
They burned our defenses.
Senses as to a figurative burning action To subject to misfortune or maltreatment; to swindle or rob.
I've been burned before by these kinds of promises.
That's when we burn the mark, and we'll be gone before he knows what happened.
Senses as to a figurative burning action To betray; to con or rob.
The informant burned him.
Senses as to a figurative burning action To shoot someone with a firearm.
Senses as to a figurative burning action To compromise (a cover story).
Senses as to a figurative burning action To blackmail.
Senses as to a figurative burning action To swap a pair of cards for another pair, or to deal a dead card.
Senses as to a figurative burning action To accidentally touch a moving stone.
Senses as to a figurative burning action To discard.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenw- Proto-Indo-European *bʰrénuh₁e-? Proto-Germanic *brinnaną Proto-West Germanic *brinnan Old English biernan ▲ Proto-Germanic *brinnaną Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *brannijaną Proto-West Germanic *brannijan Old English bærnan Old Norse brennabor. Middle English brennen English burn From late Middle English burne, birne, metathetic form of brinne, brynne, a variant of brennen, from Old Norse brinna, brenna (“to burn”), from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną (“to burn”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenw-, present stem from *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil”). Doublet of brew. The late metathesis of East Midland brin- to birn- (and subsequently burn-) parallels the phonological development of bird and dirt from brid and drit. As this metathetic form became the Chancery Standard, it displaced the semantic functions and weak conjugation paradigm of the native Old English bærnan (weak), alongside the surviving remnants of byrnan (strong). Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian prönnan (“to burn”), Dutch barnen, branden (“to burn”), German brinnen (“to burn”), Luxembourgish brennen (“to burn”), Vilamovian brīn (“to burn”), Yiddish ברענען (brenen, “to burn”), Danish brænde (“to burn”), Faroese and Icelandic brenna (“to burn”), Norwegian Bokmål brenne (“to burn”), Norwegian Nynorsk brenna, brenne (“to burn”), Swedish brinna (“to burn”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (brinnan, “to burn”); also Cornish bros (“blazing, boiling”), Irish bruth (“heat; eruption; surf”), Welsh brwd (“eager, keen; passionate, zealous”), Latin defrutum (“grape must reduced by boiling”), Ancient Greek πορφύρω (porphúrō, “to boil, heave”), Albanian burth (“Cyclamen hederifolium; mouth burning”), Armenian աղբյուր (aġbyur, “fountain, spring”), Sanskrit भुर्वन् (bhurvan, “runnel, spring”). More at brew.
A large stream.
Where this word comes from
From Northern Middle English burn, from Old English burne, burna (“spring, fountain”), Proto-West Germanic *brunnō, from Proto-Germanic *brunnô, *brunō. Cognate with Scots burn (“stream”), Cimbrian, Mòcheno prunn (“well, spring”), Dutch bron (“well”), German Bronnen, Brun, Brunnen (“well”), Luxembourgish Buer, Bur (“well”), Yiddish ברונעם (brunem, “well”), Danish brønd (“well”), Faroese brunnur, bruður (“well”), Icelandic brunnur (“well”), Norwegian Bokmål, Scanian brønn (“well”), Norwegian Nynorsk brunn, brønn (“well”), Swedish brunn (“well”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰 (brunna, “source, wellspring”), Crimean Gothic brunna (“spring, fountain, source”). Also Albanian burim (“spring, fountain”), Ancient Greek φρέαρ (phréar, “well, reservoir”), Old Armenian աղբիւր (ałbiwr, “fount”). Doublet of bourn. More at brew.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.