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.
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
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
When the system is working properly, the paint shops collect hazardous air pollution and essentially burn off harmful chemicals.
From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2024
But she’d have to burn off that anger another way.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
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.
