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Synonyms

burn off

British  

verb

  1. to clear (land) of vegetation by burning

  2. to get rid of (unwanted gas at an oil well, etc) by burning

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. an act or the process of burning off

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
burn off Idioms  

  1. Dissipate by heat, as in The sun will soon burn off the morning fog .

  2. 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.

The superstition goes that the leader must burn off bad luck, leaving only good fortune for the mission.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

During “Luna,” a slow burn off Pluma’s 2023 album “Génesis,” the corrido tumbado singers join forces to deliver a heartfelt performance of the romantic ballad.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2025

Dr Raffan explained: "It alters the predisposition to weight gain because it's tweaking a system that is involved in regulating how hungry we feel and how much energy we burn off."

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2025

The gel can subsequently be heated to burn off the organic fragment.

From Science Daily • Nov. 15, 2024

All the magic of dawn had gone now, and in its place was a gray early morning, distinguished only by a summers mist which was sure to burn off soon.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

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.