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to burn

to burn

706 1.8
To feel a hot, stinging pain after heat or chemicals
  • verb
  • /bɜrn/
translation icon : arder
  • If you stay in the sun too long, your skin will start to burn.
  • get burned
  • burning pain
  • burning eyes

You hurt yourself, it burns, it hurts, you tear up.

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Examples

  • Try not to try not to burn my tongue here.

  • You could, oh, you could burn yourself on this, right?

  • I would rather learn what it feels like to burn than feel nothing at all.

  • Oh my God, Dude, this is going to burn so fast.

  • So my arms were, were, were burning for the entire day after.

  • For example, if you burn yourself on hot coffee in Denmark, you burn yourself on hot coffee.

    Academic text (2011)
  • But my skin doesn't burn, which is good.

  • You hurt yourself, it burns, it hurts, you tear up.

  • When he returns, they eat and talk, and John's heart burns with an old longing.

  • He's burning with fever!

Synonyms

to hurt
vsto burn
1.0

Make someone suffer physical or emotional pain

is more specific to hot sensations and pain from heat or chemicals
to bite
vsto burn
92 3.1

To cause a sharp, stinging pain, often from cold or wind

is more often caused by heat, sun, chemicals, or strong emotion
to sting
vsto burn
91 2.3

To feel a sharp, sudden pain like an insect bite

is more often caused by heat, sun, chemicals, or strong emotion
to scorch
vsto burn
20 3.5

To burn the surface slightly and make a brown mark

is about causing hot sensations and pain in people rather than surface change

Antonyms

256 1.0

To make or become less warm

63 3.4

To make someone feel calmer or reduce their pain

Idioms

to burn in hell
  • Offensive
38 9.6

Say that you want someone to suffer forever after they die

12 9.8

To tie a person to a stake and burn them as punishment or to strongly criticize them in public

6 5.1

Work or study late at night to finish something

Money makes someone want to spend it quickly

to feel the burn
  • Informal
5 8.0

To have a strong burning feeling in the muscles during hard exercise

To work late at night and early in the morning so you become very tired

to burn in effigy
  • Offensive
2 8.9

Burn a dummy or picture of someone in public to show strong anger

1 8.1

Lose money or get hurt because of a mistake you make

1 7.7

To end a relationship or opportunity so you cannot use it again

dad burn
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A mild phrase people say to show annoyance without using strong swear words

8.7

Make a party very lively and exciting

Phrasal Verbs

121 3.0

To destroy a building or object completely by fire

27 3.7

To be completely destroyed by fire

24 4.7

Stop working, especially things like lights or fuses, because they get too hot from too much use

22 3.4

To use energy from the body or fuel when you move

8 3.4

Use up energy by physical activity

6 3.2

Become used up by fire or slowly disappear over time from heat and light

5 3.0

Use coal as fuel to make heat or electricity

to burn rubber
  • Informal
5 7.0

Drive a car very fast so the tires spin and smoke

3 4.6

To light up suddenly with a strong flame or bright light

1 5.6

Clear land of plants by burning them

to burn down
  • Jargon
1 3.9

To reduce work left in a project

to burn in
  • Specialized
1 6.9

Run new devices for a while to make sure they work well

to burn time
  • Informal
7.5

To pass time by doing something not useful while you wait

Compounds

11 2.4

A dark spot on skin or cloth made when something hot touches it

third-degree burn
  • Specialized
11 4.8

A very serious injury that destroys all skin layers can cause numbness and needs medical treatment

second-degree burn
  • Specialized
9 3.4

A skin injury that causes painful blisters and redness

A small mark a cigarette makes on skin or clothes

4 3.9

An area of skin rubbed and hurt by a rough cord

burn center
  • Specialized
3 3.9

A hospital unit that treats people with serious burns

burn rate
  • Specialized
1 6.5

The speed a company spends money each month

first-degree burn
  • Specialized
1 3.4

A mild injury to the top layer of the skin that causes redness and pain without blisters

burn bag
  • Formal
1 7.9

A strong locked bag for holding secret papers to be burned

burn rate
  • Jargon
1 7.4

The speed tokens are permanently removed from circulation

A plant with thick spiny leaves that has a cooling gel for sunburn called Aloe vera

An injury caused when electricity passes through the body and damages skin or tissue

5.2

A skin scrape you get when you fall or slide on a road

A film or book that builds tension slowly and ends with a big moment

A change that happens slowly over a long time

How Painful

to sear
76 6.1
to scald
14 4.8
to burn
706 1.8
sting
64 1.4
tingle
26 3.3

Surface Forms

burn infinitive
burned past
burned past participle
burning present participle
burns third person singular
burnt past
burnt past participle

Etymology

Burn comes from the old English bærnan meaning 'to be on fire', and by extension it also means to feel or cause a hot, stinging sensation, like the heat from the sun or spicy food.