burning at the stake
5
9.9
- noun
- NSFW
:
quemar en la hoguera
- Witches were burned at the stake in this time.
Examples
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Eight burned at the stake.
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Every one of them would be burned at the stake.
Blog text (12) -
"Another girl was burned at the stake today.
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She was ultimately burned at the stake.
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The Archbishop would be one of the thousands burned at the stake for their faith during Mary's reign.
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He was tried for heresy and burned at the stake.
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In the Dark Ages, hundreds of people were actually executed (many burned at the stake) after being accused of lycanthropy.
Academic text (2011) -
Conversely, antiquity perfected such forms of cruelty as crucifixion or burning at the stake.
Blog text (4) -
In the 1298 alleged desecration of a host, all the Jewish population of Rü ttingen was burned at the stake.
Blog text (4) -
A thousand years ago, people like me were burned at the stake.
Synonyms
6
9.9
Killing a person or animal by burning to offer as a sacrifice
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is a literal composition of the constituents: 'burn' (to set on fire) + 'stake' (a post) with the locative 'at/the' marking where the burning occurs. Because the event is concrete and imageable and similar constructions exist in many languages, a B1 learner who knows the component words can readily infer the phrase's meaning.
Etymology
Burning at the stake comes from a cruel public punishment where people were tied to a wooden post, a stake, and killed by burning, often for crimes like heresy or witchcraft. Because of that strong image, the phrase names that form of 'execution' and suggests a very harsh public punishment.