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.
You can criticize the management without burning down the building.
From MarketWatch
By that evening, all but three of those houses had burned down.
Eliot was among five public or charter schools that burned down or were badly damaged nearly a year ago.
From Los Angeles Times
In January of 2025, nearly the entire 200 block of West Palm Street in Altadena was burned down during the wildfires, resulting in many members of the community trying to figure out how to rebuild.
From Los Angeles Times
Shortly after his childhood home burned down in west Altadena, Zaire Calvin learned his mom’s insurance carrier had dropped her months before.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
