barnburner

[bahrn-bur-ner]

noun

1. Informal.,  something that is highly exciting, impressive, etc..

   The All Stars game was a real barnburner.

2. Chiefly Pennsylvania.,  a wooden friction match.

3. (initial capital letter),  a member of the progressive faction in the Democratic Party in New York State 1845–52.

Word History and Origins

Origin of barnburner¹

1835–45, barn ¹ + burner; barnburner ( def. 3 ) so called with reference to burning down a barn to get rid of rats

Example Sentences

“Ready For Love” is a regal, devotional folk ballad on record, but when India.Arie puts down her guitar and pulls out her flute for solos in concert, it’s an instant barnburner.

From Los Angeles Times

Dougherty received a standing ovation before rousing the crowd with an expletive-dappled barnburner, vowing that Teamsters would not cross writers’ picket lines.

From Los Angeles Times

Lulu also gets the show’s best song, a barnburner of a feminist anthem called “Independently Owned.”

From New York Times

After a banner year for pop music, Sunday's Grammy award show was quite the barnburner for pop culture discourse.

From Salon

The ballot measure to enshrine the right to abortion in the State Constitution, which voters overwhelmingly approved, didn’t become the barnburner that similar proposals in other states became, Sonenshein said.

From New York Times

When To Use

What does barnburner mean?

A barnburner is something that is especially exciting, thrilling, or impressive. It’s most commonly applied to sports games.Barnburner is a sports cliché. It’s especially used to refer to matchups that are consistently exciting throughout the entire game and then go down to wire, which is another sports cliché that means that they’re not decided until the very end of the game.Example: Did you catch that triple-overtime game last night? What a barnburner!