burn
B1Neutral to informal. Common in everyday, literary, and technical contexts.
Definition
Meaning
To undergo or cause to undergo combustion; to be on fire; to damage, injure, or destroy by fire or heat.
To feel strong emotion, particularly anger, passion, or embarrassment; to experience intense sensation (like sunburn); to copy data onto a disc; to be consumed by a non-literal force (e.g., ambition); to insult someone severely (slang).
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
The verb is irregular (burn/burned/burned OR burn/burnt/burnt). 'Burned' is more common in American English for both literal and figurative uses. 'Burnt' is more common in British English, especially as an adjective (e.g., burnt toast). The noun 'burn' refers to an injury or a sensation.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Spelling: 'burned' (AmE) vs. 'burnt' (BrE) as past tense/participle is a strong tendency, though both forms exist in both dialects. Adjective form 'burnt' is preferred in BrE; 'burned' is possible but less common for adjectives in AmE.
Connotations
Similar core connotations. The phrase 'burn rubber' (accelerate hard) is slightly more associated with AmE. 'Burn the midnight oil' is neutral.
Frequency
Equally high frequency in both dialects, with the morphological difference (burned/burnt) being the primary distinction.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[S] + burn (intransitive): The fire burned.[S] + burn + [O] (transitive): She burned the letters.[S] + burn + [O] + adjective/complement: He burned the toast black.[S] + burn + with + emotion: She burned with jealousy.[S] + burn + [O] + into + memory: The image was burned into my mind.Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “burn the candle at both ends”
- “burn your boats/bridges”
- “burn the midnight oil”
- “have money to burn”
- “burn a hole in your pocket”
- “burn rubber”
- “get your fingers burned”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Metaphorical: 'The project is burning through cash.' 'Risk of burnout in high-pressure roles.'
Academic
Technical/Literal: 'The compound will burn with a blue flame.' Figurative: 'A burning question in the field.'
Everyday
Literal: 'Don't burn the dinner!' Figurative: 'I'm burning with curiosity.' 'I got a nasty burn from the oven.'
Technical
Physics/Engineering: 'The fuel burns efficiently.' Medical: 'Treatment for third-degree burns.' IT: 'Burn the ISO file to a DVD.'
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The bonfire burnt for hours.
- He burnt all his old love letters.
- My skin burnt in the sun.
- Can you burn this film onto a DVD for me?
American English
- The campfire burned all night.
- She burned the evidence.
- I burned my tongue on the hot coffee.
- I need to burn a copy of that song.
adverb
British English
- The logs were burnt black.
- The sauce had burnt dry.
American English
- The steak was burned crisp.
- The rice was burned to the bottom of the pot.
adjective
British English
- The smell of burnt toast filled the kitchen.
- He offered me a burnt sausage.
American English
- The house was filled with the smell of burned wood.
- She scraped the burned bits off the toast.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- Fire burns.
- Be careful not to burn your hand.
- The paper burned quickly.
- I burned the old newspapers in the garden.
- She has a small burn on her arm.
- The lights in the house burned all night.
- He burned his bridges when he quit his job angrily.
- The issue is burning a hole in the company's budget.
- After years of overwork, she was completely burnt out.
- The scandal burned his reputation to the ground.
- Her ambition burned with an intensity that frightened her colleagues.
- The data was permanently burned into the device's firmware.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of a URN (a vase) on fire: a BURNing URN.
Conceptual Metaphor
EMOTION/EXPERIENCE IS FIRE (burn with desire, burning shame, burning issue); DESTRUCTION/WASTE IS BURNING (burn money, burn bridges); ENERGY CONSUMPTION IS BURNING (burn calories, burn out).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Russian 'жечь' (zhech') is a closer fit for 'to burn' as a process. 'Сжигать' (szhigat') implies complete destruction/to burn down.
- Beware of false friend 'бурный' (burnyy - stormy, turbulent), which is unrelated.
- The noun 'ожог' (ozhog) is specifically a burn injury, not the act of burning.
- The phrase 'burn money' translates directly but the idiom 'have money to burn' (иметь лишние деньги) does not imply literal destruction.
Common Mistakes
- *I am burning to know it. (Correct: I am burning to know.)
- *She burned him a CD. (Ambiguous: Did she make a copy for him or set a CD on fire for him? Better: She burned a CD for him.)
- Overusing 'burn' for mild heating: 'I'll burn the soup' vs. 'I'll heat/warm up the soup.'
Practice
Quiz
In a British English recipe, you are most likely to see which instruction?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Both are correct. 'Burned' is more common in American English, while 'burnt' is more common in British English, especially as an adjective ('burnt orange').
It primarily means to stop functioning from overheating (e.g., a light bulb). Figuratively, it means to become exhausted from prolonged stress (e.g., job burnout).
Yes, in the sense of a painful cold sensation similar to heat, e.g., 'The freezing wind burned my cheeks.' This is a sensory metaphor.
'Burn' is the general term. 'Scorch' means to burn superficially, discolouring or damaging the surface. 'Singe' means to burn very lightly, just the very tips (e.g., hairs or threads).