burn

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To cause to undergo combustion.
2. v. To destroy with fire: burned the trash; burn a house down.
3. v. To consume (fuel or energy, for example): burned all the wood that winter.
4. v. Physics To cause to undergo nuclear fission or fusion.
5. v. To damage or injure by fire, heat, radiation, electricity, or a caustic agent: burned the toast; burned my skin with the acid.
6. v. To execute or kill with fire: burning heretics at the stake.
7. v. To execute by electrocution.
8. v. To make or produce by fire or heat: burn a hole in the rug.
9. v. To dispel; dissipate: The sun burned off the fog.
10. v. To use as a fuel: a furnace that burns coal.
11. v. To metabolize (glucose, for example) in the body.
12. v. To impart a sensation of intense heat to: The chili burned my mouth.
13. v. To irritate or inflame, as by chafing or sunburn.
14. v. To let (oneself or a part of one's body) become sunburned.
15. v. To brand (an animal).
16. v. To engrave or make indelible by as or as if by burning: The image of the accident was burned into my memory.
17. v. To harden or impart a finish to by subjecting to intense heat; fire: burn clay pots in a kiln.
18. v. To make angry: That remark really burns me.
19. v. To defeat in a contest, especially by a narrow margin.
20. v. Sports To outplay or score on (an opponent), especially through quick or deceptive movement.
21. v. To inflict harm or hardship on; hurt: "Huge loan losses have burned banks in recent years” ( Christian Science Monitor).
22. v. To swindle or deceive; cheat: We really got burned on the used car we bought.
23. v. To record data on (a compact disk, for example).
24. v. To undergo combustion.
25. v. To admit of burning: Wood burns easily.
26. v. To consume fuel: a rocket stage designed to burn for three minutes before being jettisoned.
27. v. Physics To undergo nuclear fission or fusion.
28. v. To emit heat or light by or as if by fire: campfires burning in the dark; the sun burning brightly in the sky.
29. v. To become dissipated or to be dispelled by or as if by heat: The fog burned off as the sun came up.
30. v. To give off light; shine: a light burning over the door.
31. v. To be destroyed, injured, damaged, or changed by or as if by fire: a house that burned to the ground; eggs that burned and stuck to the pan.
32. v. To be very hot; bake: a desert burning under the midday sun.
33. v. To feel or look hot: a child burning with fever.
34. v. To impart a sensation of heat: a liniment that burns when first applied.
35. v. To become irritated or painful, as by chafing or inflammation: eyes burning from the smoke.
36. v. To become sunburned or windburned.
37. v. To be consumed with strong emotion, especially:
38. v. To be or become angry: an insult that really made me burn.
39. v. To be very eager: was burning with ambition.
40. v. To penetrate by or as if by intense heat or flames: enemy ground radar burning through the fighters' electronic jammers; a look that burned into them.
41. v. To be engraved by or as if by burning: shame burning in my heart.
42. v. To suffer punishment or death by or as if by fire: souls burning in hell.
43. v. To be electrocuted.
44. n. An injury produced by fire, heat, radiation, electricity, or a caustic agent.
45. n. A burned place or area: a cigarette burn in the tablecloth.
46. n. An act, process, or result of burning: The fire settled down to a steady burn.
47. n. A sensation of intense heat or stinging pain: a chili burn on the tongue; the burn of alcohol on an open wound.
48. n. A sunburn or windburn.
49. n. Aerospace A firing of a rocket.
50. n. A swindle.
51. burn in To darken part of (a photograph print) by exposing unmasked areas.
52. burn out To stop burning from lack of fuel.
53. burn out To wear out or make or become inoperative as a result of heat or friction: The short circuit burned out the fuse.
54. burn out To cause (a property owner or a resident) to have to evacuate the premises because of fire: The shopkeeper was burned out by arsonists.
55. burn out To make or become exhausted, especially as a result of long-term stress: "Hours are long, stress is high, and many recruits drop out or burn out” ( Robert J. Samuelson).
56. burn up To make angry: Their rudeness really burns me up.
57. burn up To travel over or through at high speed: drag racers burning up the track.
58. idiom. burn (one's) bridges To eliminate the possibility of return or retreat.
59. idiom. the To exhaust oneself or one's resources by leading a hectic or extravagant life.
60. idiom. burn the midnight oil To work or study very late at night.
61. idiom. to burn In great amounts: They had money to burn.
62. n. Scots A small stream; a brook.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To consume with fire; destroy or reduce to ashesby the action of heat or fire.
2. To act on with fire; expose to the action of fire: as, to burn clay; to burn wood for charcoal; toburn limestone.
3. To produce by means of fire: as, to burn charcoal.
4. To scorch; affect or injure by heat: as, to burn one's clothes by being too near the fire; to burn one's fingers; to burn bread or meat.
5. To inflame or tan (the skin), as sunlight.
6. To produce an effect like that of fire; heat or inflame; affect with a burning sensation: as, ardent spirits burn the stomach; a burning fever.
7. In chem., to combine with oxygen; oxygenize.
8. In surgery, to apply a cautery to; cauterize.
9. To be on fire; flame: as, the fuel burns.
10. To become charred, singed, or scorched; be injured by undue exposure to fire or a heated surface, etc.: as, milk or oatmeal burns if cooked without stirring.
11. To become inflamed or tanned, or to become disintegrated by the effect of heat and reflected sunlight, as the skin from unusual or prolonged exposure to the sun or to the glare from a sheet of water.
12. To glow like fire; shine; gleam.
13. To be inflamed with passion or desire; be affected with strong emotion: as, to burn with anger or love.
14. To act or behave with destructive violence; be in a state of violent action; rage.
15. To be affected with a sensation of heat or burning pain, or acridity; feel excess of heat: as, the face burns; the patient burns with a fever.
16. To resemble fire in the effect or the sensation produced.
17. In certain games, to be very near a concealed object which is sought, that is, so near that one would be burned if it were fire; hence, to be nearly right in a guess.
18. n. A hurt or injury caused by the action of fire, especially on a living body; a burnt place in any substance.
19. n. The operation of burning or baking, as in brickmaking: as, they had a good burn.
20. n. A disease in vegetables. See brand, 6.
21. n. A clearing in the woods made by burning the trees. [U. S.] Synonyms Burn, Scald. Burns are produced by heated solids or by flames, scalds by heated fluids or vapors. See scorch, v. t.
22. n. A rivulet; a brook.
23. n. It occurs in various place-names, as Bannock-burn, Blackburn, etc.
24. To burnish; brighten; make gay or cheerful.
25. n. A burden for one person.
26. To vulcanize (india-rubber) by mixing it with sulphur or metallic sulphids and heating to a properly determined temperature.
27. To alter by means of heat, as a gem. Thus yellow topaz may be burned to pink, smoky quartz to brown and yellow (so-called Spanish topaz), chalcedony to carnelian, yellow or bluish zircon to the colorless variety, etc.
28. To injure (plants) as if by scorching: said of the action of strong fertilizers.
29. To become acidified as the effect of an excess of green herbage which has been plowed under: said of a soil.
30. n. In the tobacco trade: The quality of leaf considered with reference to the completeness or incompleteness of its reduction to ash in being smoked.
31. n. A damage sometimes suffered by tobacco in the process of curing (drying), due to excessive moisture in the air. Specifically termed house-burn when it takes place indoors, and pole-burn when the leaves are dried hanging on poles.

Wiktionary

1. n. Scotland A stream.
2. n. A physical injury caused by heat or cold or electricity or radiation or caustic chemicals.
3. n. The act of burning something.
4. n. Physical sensation in the muscles following strenuous exercise, caused by build-up of lactic acid.
5. n. slang An intense non-physical sting, as left by an effective insult.
6. n. UK tobacco
7. v. intransitive To be consumed by fire, or at least in flames.
8. v. intransitive To become overheated so as to make unusable.
9. v. intransitive To feel hot, e.g. due to embarrassment.
10. v. intransitive To sunburn.
11. v. intransitive, curling To accidentally touch a moving stone.
12. v. transitive, ergative To cause to be consumed by fire.
13. v. transitive, ergative To overheat so as to make unusable.
14. v. transitive To injure (a person or animal) with heat or caustic chemicals.
15. v. transitive, slang To betray.
16. v. transitive, computing To write data to a permanent storage medium like a compact disc or a ROM chip.
17. v. transitive To waste (time).
18. v. transitive, slang To insult or defeat.
19. v. transitive, card games In pontoon, to swap a pair of cards for another pair. Also to deal a dead card.
20. v. photography To increase the exposure for certain areas of a print in order to make them lighter (compare dodge).

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To consume with fire; to reduce to ashes by the action of heat or fire; -- frequently intensified by up: .
2. v. 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.
3. v. 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.
4. v. To make or produce, as an effect or result, by the application of fire or heat.
5. v. To consume, injure, or change the condition of, as if by action of fire or heat; to affect as fire or heat does.
6. v. (Surg.) To apply a cautery to; to cauterize.
7. v. (Chem.) To cause to combine with oxygen or other active agent, with evolution of heat; to consume; to oxidize.
8. v. To be of fire; to flame.
9. v. To suffer from, or be scorched by, an excess of heat.
10. v. 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.
11. v. (Chem.) To combine energetically, with evolution of heat.
12. v. colloq. In certain games, to approach near to a concealed object which is sought.
13. n. A hurt, injury, or effect caused by fire or excessive or intense heat.
14. n. The operation or result of burning or baking, as in brickmaking.
15. n. A disease in vegetables. See Brand, n., 6.
16. n. Scot. A small stream.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an injury caused by exposure to heat or chemicals or radiation
2. v. cause to undergo combustion
3. v. cause to burn or combust
4. v. burn, sear, or freeze (tissue) using a hot iron or electric current or a caustic agent
5. n. pain that feels hot as if it were on fire
6. v. burn with heat, fire, or radiation
7. v. burn at the stake
8. v. get a sunburn by overexposure to the sun
9. v. use up (energy)
10. v. feel hot or painful
11. v. feel strong emotion, especially anger or passion
12. n. a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
13. v. destroy by fire
14. n. damage inflicted by fire
15. v. shine intensely, as if with heat
16. v. cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort
17. n. a place or area that has been burned (especially on a person's body)
18. v. spend (significant amounts of money)
19. v. create by duplicating data
20. v. undergo combustion