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Burn   /bərn/   Listen
verb
Burn  v. t.  (past & past part. burned or burnt; pres. part. burning)  
1.
To consume with fire; to reduce to ashes by the action of heat or fire; frequently intensified by up: as, to burn up wood. "We'll burn his body in the holy place."
2.
To injure by fire or heat; to change destructively some property or properties of, by undue exposure to fire or heat; to scorch; to scald; to blister; to singe; to char; to sear; as, to burn steel in forging; to burn one's face in the sun; the sun burns the grass.
3.
To perfect or improve by fire or heat; to submit to the action of fire or heat for some economic purpose; to destroy or change some property or properties of, by exposure to fire or heat in due degree for obtaining a desired residuum, product, or effect; to bake; as, to burn clay in making bricks or pottery; to burn wood so as to produce charcoal; to burn limestone for the lime.
4.
To make or produce, as an effect or result, by the application of fire or heat; as, to burn a hole; to burn charcoal; to burn letters into a block.
5.
To consume, injure, or change the condition of, as if by action of fire or heat; to affect as fire or heat does; as, to burn the mouth with pepper. "This tyrant fever burns me up." "This dry sorrow burns up all my tears."
6.
(Surg.) To apply a cautery to; to cauterize.
7.
(Chem.) To cause to combine with oxygen or other active agent, with evolution of heat; to consume; to oxidize; as, a man burns a certain amount of carbon at each respiration; to burn iron in oxygen.
To burn, To burn together, as two surfaces of metal (Engin.), to fuse and unite them by pouring over them a quantity of the same metal in a liquid state.
To burn a bowl (Game of Bowls), to displace it accidentally, the bowl so displaced being said to be burned.
To burn daylight, to light candles before it is dark; to waste time; to perform superfluous actions.
To burn one's fingers, to get one's self into unexpected trouble, as by interfering the concerns of others, speculation, etc.
To burn out,
(a)
to destroy or obliterate by burning. "Must you with hot irons burn out mine eyes?"
(b)
to force (people) to flee by burning their homes or places of business; as, the rioters burned out the Chinese businessmen.
To be burned out, to suffer loss by fire, as the burning of one's house, store, or shop, with the contents.
To burn up, To burn down, to burn entirely.



Burn  v. i.  (past & past part. burned or burnt; pres. part. burning)  
1.
To be of fire; to flame. "The mount burned with fire."
2.
To suffer from, or be scorched by, an excess of heat. "Your meat doth burn, quoth I."
3.
To have a condition, quality, appearance, sensation, or emotion, as if on fire or excessively heated; to act or rage with destructive violence; to be in a state of lively emotion or strong desire; as, the face burns; to burn with fever. "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way?" "The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne, Burned on the water." "Burning with high hope." "The groan still deepens, and the combat burns." "The parching air Burns frore, and cold performs the effect of fire."
4.
(Chem.) To combine energetically, with evolution of heat; as, copper burns in chlorine.
5.
In certain games, to approach near to a concealed object which is sought. (Colloq.)
To burn up, To burn down, to be entirely consumed.



noun
Burn  n.  
1.
A hurt, injury, or effect caused by fire or excessive or intense heat.
2.
The operation or result of burning or baking, as in brickmaking; as, they have a good burn.
3.
A disease in vegetables. See Brand, n., 6.



Burn  n.  A small stream. (Scot.)






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Burn" Quotes from Famous Books



... FATS AND OILS DECOMPOSE OR "BURN."— Into each of 6 test tubes put 2 teaspoonfuls of butter, cottonseed oil, corn oil, beef drippings, lard, and Crisco. Gently heat each one of the fats or oils until fumes first arise from them. Then insert a thermometer ...
— School and Home Cooking • Carlotta C. Greer

... I, upon my life! I would not promise to burn a copy of it on the condition of a recovery for ...
— Imaginary Conversations and Poems - A Selection • Walter Savage Landor

... I. "What do you think of your amateur daddy? Or are you wonderin' if your hair'll be as red as mine? Don't you care. There's worse things in life than bein' bright on top. Eh? Think you'd like to get your fingers in it? Might burny-burn. Well, try it once, if you like." And I ducks my head so he can reach that wavin' forelock ...
— The House of Torchy • Sewell Ford

... sovereigns, and some original letters, concealed from their search in 1814, he caused to be delivered into his own hands. He then directed us to burn the petitions, letters, and addresses, that had been received since the 20th of March. I was employed in this business one day, when Napoleon passed through the closet. He came up to me, and took a letter I had in my hand. It was one ...
— Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. II • Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon

... me to think that my presence may render it unnecessary for you to strangle, crucify, burn alive, and drown the whole population of Yeni Koej," I answered. "I dare say you have done most of those things at one ...
— Paul Patoff • F. Marion Crawford


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