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.
No more media speculation that the team was furious and wanted to burn down the league.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
“If you don’t have a car crash, or your house doesn’t burn down, you don’t get your premiums back later in life. What you do get is protection and peace of mind,” Butler added.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Insomnia and mania began to set in - and that triggered him, he says, to "burn down" everything he had built - his marriage, his friendships, and his business.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
"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
The color-striped candle would burn down to the fuse at six-thirty; whoever was working there would be at the other end of the room.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
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.
