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
One man, whose home of 13 years was destroyed by fire, said watching it burn down was "a feeling I'll never get over".
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Fire can cook food or it can burn down your house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
If you knew your home would burn down exactly one year from today, you’d take immediate action.
From Salon ● May 1, 2025
“We’re going to clear Charlie’s name this morning. He didn’t burn down Zimmerman’s. He was messed up in a bunch of other stuff. The proof is in this box.”
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
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.
