burn out
Britishverb
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to become or cause to become worn out or inoperative as a result of heat or friction
the clutch burnt out
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(intr) (of a rocket, jet engine, etc) to cease functioning as a result of exhaustion of the fuel supply
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(tr; usually passive) to destroy by fire
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to become or cause to become exhausted through overwork or dissipation
noun
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the failure of a mechanical device from excessive heating
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a total loss of energy and interest and an inability to function effectively, experienced as a result of excessive demands upon one's resources or chronic overwork
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Stop functioning because something, such as fuel, has been used up. For example, There's nothing wrong with the lamp; the light bulb just burned out . [Late 1300s]
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be burned out . Lose one's home, place of work, or school as the result of a fire. For example, Hundreds of tenants are burned out every year because of negligent landlords .
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Also, burn oneself out . Make or become exhausted or disaffected, especially with one's work or schooling. For example, Many young lawyers burn themselves out after a few years of 70-hour weeks . This metaphoric term alludes to a fire going out for lack of new fuel. Robert Southey used it in an 1816 essay: “The spirit of Jacobinism was burnt out in France.” [1970s]
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 alternative isn’t great, either: You stay in a miserable job and burn out before you’re 30.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
“Otherwise, you’ll burn out and abandon it altogether.”
From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026
The U.S. is facing a critical shortage in hospital staff, with the ranks of registered nurses and other medical personnel having plummeted post-pandemic, often due to burn out.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026
One is on the western outskirts of Halifax, the largest city in Nova Scotia, which continues to burn out of control.
From BBC • Aug. 13, 2025
Woolf was sure that he would soon burn out.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
