burn off
Britishverb
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to clear (land) of vegetation by burning
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to get rid of (unwanted gas at an oil well, etc) by burning
noun
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Dissipate by heat, as in The sun will soon burn off the morning fog .
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Clear land by burning vegetation, as in They've decided to burn off part of the field to prepare it for another planting . This practice has long been common in many parts of the world, but the precise term dates only from the first half of the 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.
To burn off my energy, my parents had enrolled me in dance classes at age 4.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
So he visited Buddy for recreation — several clients come to burn off energy when it’s too hot to walk outdoors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2025
Muirburns are controlled fires set burn off old heather and other vegetation on grouse shooting estates.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2025
The gel can subsequently be heated to burn off the organic fragment.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2024
Sneaking it out bucket by bucket until he had enough to buy out his indenture and burn off his work tattoos.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
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.
