| burn 1 (bûrn) v. burned or burnt (bûrnt), burn·ing, burns v.tr.1. a. To cause to undergo combustion. b. To destroy with fire: burned the trash; burn a house down. c. To consume (fuel or energy, for example): burned all the wood that winter. 2. Physics To cause to undergo nuclear fission or fusion. 3. To damage or injure by fire, heat, radiation, electricity, or a caustic agent: burned the toast; burned my skin with the acid. 4. a. To execute or kill with fire: burning heretics at the stake. b. To execute by electrocution. 5. a. To make or produce by fire or heat: burn a hole in the rug. b. To dispel; dissipate: The sun burned off the fog. 6. a. To use as a fuel: a furnace that burns coal. b. To metabolize (glucose, for example) in the body. 7. To impart a sensation of intense heat to: The chili burned my mouth. 8. a. To irritate or inflame, as by chafing or sunburn. b. To let (oneself or a part of one's body) become sunburned. 9. To brand (an animal). 10. To engrave or make indelible by as or as if by burning: The image of the accident was burned into my memory. 11. To harden or impart a finish to by subjecting to intense heat; fire: burn clay pots in a kiln. 12. To make angry: That remark really burns me. 13. a. To defeat in a contest, especially by a narrow margin. b. Sports To outplay or score on (an opponent), especially through quick or deceptive movement. c. To inflict harm or hardship on; hurt: "Huge loan losses have burned banks in recent years" Christian Science Monitor. d. To swindle or deceive; cheat: We really got burned on the used car we bought. 14. To record data on (a compact disk). v.intr.1. a. To undergo combustion. b. To admit of burning: Wood burns easily. 2. To consume fuel: a rocket stage designed to burn for three minutes before being jettisoned. 3. Physics To undergo nuclear fission or fusion. 4. a. To emit heat or light by or as if by fire: campfires burning in the dark; the sun burning brightly in the sky. b. To become dissipated or to be dispelled by or as if by heat: The fog burned off as the sun came up. 5. To give off light; shine: a light burning over the door. 6. 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. 7. a. To be very hot; bake: a desert burning under the midday sun. b. To feel or look hot: a child burning with fever. c. To impart a sensation of heat: a liniment that burns when first applied. 8. a. To become irritated or painful, as by chafing or inflammation: eyes burning from the smoke. b. To become sunburned or windburned. 9. To be consumed with strong emotion, especially: a. To be or become angry: an insult that really made me burn. b. To be very eager: was burning with ambition. 10. 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. 11. To be engraved by or as if by burning: shame burning in my heart. 12. a. To suffer punishment or death by or as if by fire: souls burning in hell. b. To be electrocuted. n.1. An injury produced by fire, heat, radiation, electricity, or a caustic agent. 2. A burned place or area: a cigarette burn in the tablecloth. 3. An act, process, or result of burning: The fire settled down to a steady burn. 4. A sensation of intense heat or stinging pain: a chili burn on the tongue; the burn of alcohol on an open wound. 5. A sunburn or windburn. 6. Aerospace A firing of a rocket. 7. A swindle. Phrasal Verbs: burn in To darken part of (a photograph print) by exposing unmasked areas. burn out1. To stop burning from lack of fuel. 2. To wear out or make or become inoperative as a result of heat or friction: The short circuit burned out the fuse. 3. To cause (a property owner or a resident) to have to evacuate the premises because of fire: The shopkeeper was burned out by arsonists. 4. 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. burn up1. To make angry: Their rudeness really burns me up. 2. To travel over or through at high speed: drag racers burning up the track. Idioms: burn (one's) bridges To eliminate the possibility of return or retreat. burn the/one's candle at both ends To exhaust oneself or one's resources by leading a hectic or extravagant life. burn the midnight oil To work or study very late at night. to burn In great amounts: They had money to burn.
[Middle English burnen, from Old English beornan, to be on fire, and from bærnan, to set on fire; see gwher- in Indo-European roots.] Synonyms: burn1, scorch, singe, sear1, char1, parch
These verbs mean to injure or alter by means of intense heat or flames. Burn, the most general, applies to the effects of exposure to a source of heat or to something that can produce a similar effect: burned the muffins in the oven.
Scorch involves superficial burning that discolors or damages the texture of something: scorched the shirt with the iron.
Singe specifies superficial burning and especially the deliberate removal of projections such as feathers from a carcass before cooking: singed my eyelashes when the fire flared up; singed the chicken before roasting it.
Sear applies to surface burning of organic tissue: seared the lamb over high heat.
To char is to use fire to reduce a substance to carbon or charcoal: wood charred by the fire.
Parch in this sense emphasizes the drying and often fissuring of a surface: the hot sun that parched the soil. | 
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