burn down
Idioms-
Completely consume by fire, burn to the ground, as in Their house burned down and they had nowhere to go . [Mid-1800s]
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Diminish for lack of fuel, as in The fire will soon burn down . [Late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"The children are the most stressed. They think the fire is going to burn down the house, but we're coping," he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Fire can cook food or it can burn down your house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
"It's about understanding that if you've got yourselves a disposable barbecue make sure that you're putting down slabs, so that it doesn't burn down to the grass and catch fire."
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2025
Nobody takes out insurance because they know their home will burn down with certainty.
From Salon ● May 1, 2025
He had a feeling that the entire building could burn down around them right this second and still the old man would say he didn’t smell any smoke.
From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
