When we use idioms in English, it’s like painting with words! Idioms help us express ideas in a fun and colorful way. This blog post is all about idioms that use the word “burn.” These phrases are easy to learn and can add some “fire” to your conversations!
Burn Idioms
Here are 20 burn idioms in English with meaning and example sentence for each.
1. Burn the midnight oil
Meaning: Stay up late working on something.
Example: She burned the midnight oil to finish her essay.
2. Burn the candle at both ends
Meaning: Work excessively hard.
Example: He’s burning the candle at both ends with two jobs.
3. Burn a hole in one’s pocket
Meaning: Money spent quickly.
Example: His paycheck is burning a hole in his pocket.
4. Burn one’s bridges
Meaning: Destroy one’s path, opportunities.
Example: He burned his bridges with that company.
5. Burn rubber
Meaning: Drive a car very fast.
Example: They burned rubber out of the parking lot.
6. Burn up the road
Meaning: Travel very quickly.
Example: She was burning up the road to get home.
7. Crash and burn
Meaning: Fail spectacularly.
Example: His business plan crashed and burned.
8. Burn oneself out
Meaning: Work too hard over time.
Example: She’s burning herself out with extra projects.
9. Money to burn
Meaning: Have a lot of money to spend.
Example: He acts like he has money to burn.
10. Burn one’s boats
Meaning: Make a decision irreversible.
Example: He’s burning his boats by moving abroad.
11. Slow burn
Meaning: Gradual building of anger.
Example: His comments gave her a slow burn.
12. Have an old flame
Meaning: Maintain feelings for an ex-lover.
Example: He still has an old flame in his heart.
13. Get burned
Meaning: Be cheated or deceived.
Example: She got burned in that deal.
14. Burn brighter
Meaning: Perform better, stand out.
Example: He always burns brighter under pressure.
15. Burn the boats
Meaning: Commit fully to a course of action.
Example: They burned the boats with their new strategy.
16. Feel the burn
Meaning: Feel muscle pain from exercising.
Example: You’ll feel the burn after those exercises.
17. A burning question
Meaning: An urgent or crucial question.
Example: The burning question is, what’s next?
18. Burning the record
Meaning: Excelling or surpassing records.
Example: She’s burning the record with sales.
19. Keep the home fires burning
Meaning: Maintain the household or support.
Example: He kept the home fires burning alone.
20. Burned at the stake
Meaning: Severely criticized or punished.
Example: She felt burned at the stake by critics.
