Synonyms

burn at the stake

Idioms

Execute someone by tying to a stake and burning; also, punish severely. This expression refers to a method used in the Middle Ages for putting heretics to death, but now it is used as a hyperbolic metaphor for harsh punishment, as in She was sure she'd be burned at the stake for losing the contract. In fact, the stake can be used loosely for any extreme punishment. William Makepeace Thackeray so used it in Henry Esmond (1852): “'I know I would go to the stake for you,' said Harry.”

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.

We have lighted a fire to purify, not to burn at the stake.

From Right Above Race by Kahn, Otto Hermann

We would burn at the stake; but in an hour of social intercourse with our friends, or a trivial business transaction, we say the word which fills our life with regret.

From Love to the Uttermost Expositions of John XIII.-XXI. by Meyer, F. B. (Frederick Brotherton)

No man was paid to burn at the stake or die on the cross that other men might be free to live.

From The Story of the Innumerable Company, and Other Sketches by Jordan, David Starr

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023