🔥 Setting on fire 😣 Hot pain 🪦 Execution by fire 🚬 Torture with heat 💿 Copying to disc ❗ Very urgent

burning

24 9.9

Killing a person by setting them on fire as punishment

noun
/ˈbɜrnɪŋ/

Offensive

: quema en la hoguera

We did observe there was a difference of degree in the burning of the bodies.
witch burnings
widow burning

More humane at least than thumb screws or burning them in public or executions.

Examples

You're under arrest for the burning of Augsburg and for bringing the witch plague to our streets.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
Punishments for convicted witches range from small fines to burning at the stake.
In the old days, wives used to throw themselves on top of their husbands' burning bodies.

Fiction book (1999)
Punishments for convicted witches range from small fines to burning at the stake.
Tasha and Sonya were led to the burning stakes, both accused of witchcraft.

Fiction book (2002)
In medieval times, the burning of heretics was a common form of punishment.
The legend spoke of a village where the burning of a witch marked the end of a terrible drought.

Synonyms

immolation

vsburning

NSFW

6 9.9

Killing a person or animal by burning to offer as a sacrifice

is execution carried out as legal punishment rather than a sacrificial offering

burning at the stake

vsburning

NSFW

5 9.9

A way of killing someone by tying them to a post and setting them on fire as punishment

is the broader act of killing someone by fire without naming the method

Antonyms

saving

2 2.1

Protecting people or things from danger

Idioms

are your ears burning

Informal

1 9.5

Asking someone if people have just been talking about them

to keep the home fires burning

Archaic

1 6.4

Make the home warm and caring while someone is away

to feel my ears burning

Informal

1 8.8

A sudden sense that people are talking about you, often when your name is said

my ears are burning

Informal

1 9.0

You feel that people are talking about you when you are not there

burning the roof

Slang

9.9

To have a wild, loud party with dancing and music

Compounds

burning question

Informal

11 3.5

An urgent question that needs a quick answer

wood-burning

8 3.5

Using wood to make heat for a room or for cooking

burning at the stake

NSFW

5 9.9

A way of killing someone by tying them to a post and setting them on fire as punishment

burning bush

Literature

5 8.0

A bush on fire that God used to speak to Moses in the Bible

book burning

Offensive

2 7.2

Destroying books on purpose to stop political or religious ideas

clean-burning

Specialized

1 5.3

Produces little smoke or ash when burned

coal-burning

1 3.9

Using coal for heat or electricity

coal burning

1 3.2

Making electricity or heat by using coal as fuel

burning bush

6.8

A shrub with bright red or purple leaves used for decoration

burning bush

Specialized

9.1

A plant with white flowers that gives off a gas that can burn in hot weather

burning times

NSFW

9.9

A period in Europe when many people accused of being witches are killed, often by burning at the stake

free burning

Specialized

8.3

A fire that keeps going in open air, often like an electric arc

long-burning incense

5.3

A stick or cone that burns slowly and makes a pleasant smell

long-burning log

3.9

A log that gives steady heat for hours in a fire

slow-burning passion

5.9

A strong feeling of love or interest that grows slowly

slow-burning stove

5.1

A stove that controls the air so the fuel gives heat for many hours

Surface Forms

burning singular

burnings plural

Morphology

burning = burn (transparent) = burn + ing

This nominal meaning (execution by burning) is a direct extension of the verb 'to burn' and is transparently derived for learners.

Etymology

Burning comes from the old verb burn, meaning 'to set on fire'. In history, people were sometimes put to death by fire, so burning can also mean execution by fire because it describes that act directly.