to burn one's fingers

1 8.1

Lose money or get hurt because of a mistake you make

idiom

Informal

: quemarse

If you keep taking unnecessary risks, you might burn your fingers financially.

Examples

Wait, he'll burn his fingers.

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
"Unfortunately, as I recall," says Carpenter, "you burned your fingers."

Blog text (30)
I just hope he doesn't burn his fingers, you know?

Faith Like Potatoes (2006)
So you don't burn your fingers.

Big Momma's House 2 (2006)
You're about to burn your fingers there, madam.

Sparrows Dance (2013)
You'd burn your fingers.

The Burglar (1957)
He learned his lesson the hard way after he burned his fingers by ignoring the warning signs.
She was warned that investing in that scheme could lead her to burn her fingers.

Synonyms

to shoot oneself in the foot

vsto burn one's fingers

Informal

20 8.4

Do or say something that harms your own chances

refers to harm from mistakes or risky choices rather than accidental acts

to shoot yourself in the foot

vsto burn one's fingers

Informal

1 7.5

Cause trouble for yourself by your actions, often by accident

focuses on harm from personal mistakes or deliberate risky actions

to get one's fingers burnt

vsto burn one's fingers

Informal

1 7.8

To have bad results after taking a risk

has identical meaning but is expressed in a different phrase

to get one's lumps

vsto burn one's fingers

Informal

8.6

To be punished for something you did wrong

means harm from one's own risky acts or mistakes rather than formal punishment

Antonyms

to succeed

846 2.0

To reach a goal after trying hard

to benefit

676 2.3

To help someone or be helped by something

How Harmed

to ruin

∞ 2.0

to reap what you sow

Informal

8 6.0

to burn one's fingers

Informal

1 8.1

to lose

∞ 1.1

to make a blunder

1 4.2

Surface Forms

burn one's fingers infinitive

burned one's fingers past

burned one's fingers past participle

burning one's fingers present participle

burns one's fingers third person singular

Morphology

burn + one's + finger

The literal meanings of 'burn' (to be harmed by heat) and 'fingers' (a body part) give a clear metaphor of getting hurt, so a learner could infer a general sense of suffering harm; however, the specific idiomatic sense — suffering negative consequences because of one’s own mistake or risky action — is an extended, metaphorical use not fully predictable from the parts alone. This phrase is therefore partially transparent: its negative-consequence meaning is related to the literal image but requires familiarity with the metaphorical extension to be fully understood.

Etymology

The idiom burn one's fingers may come from the simple image of burning your fingers on something hot and getting hurt. That's why it now means 'to get hurt or have problems because of a mistake or risky action'.