- present participle of burn.
burning
Americanadjective
-
aflame; on fire.
-
very hot; simmering.
The water was burning.
-
very bright; glowing.
She wore a burning red bathing suit.
-
caused by or as if by fire, a burn, or heat.
He had a burning sensation in his throat.
-
intense; passionate.
a burning desire.
-
urgent or crucial.
a burning question.
noun
-
burnings
plural
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the state, process, sensation, or effect of being on fire, burned, or subjected to intense heat.
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the baking of ceramic products to develop hardness and other properties.
-
the heating or the calcining of certain ores and rocks as a preliminary stage in various industrial processes.
adjective
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intense; passionate
-
urgent; crucial
a burning problem
noun
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a form of heat treatment used to harden and finish ceramic materials or to prepare certain ores for further treatment by calcination
-
overheating of an alloy during heat treatment in which local fusion or excessive oxide formation and penetration occur, weakening the alloy
-
the heat treatment of particular kinds of gemstones to change their colour
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of burning
First recorded before 1000; Middle English brenning, Old English byrnende; see burn 1, -ing 1, -ing 2
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.
See Examples For:
The Norte fire is burning in a hilly area in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, fueled by intense winds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
The Norte Fire is one of 13 burning across the state, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
She wound up burning what she had been cooking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
In Indonesia, tens of thousands of people have sought treatment for respiratory illness linked to haze from fires burning in Borneo, South Sumatra and Papua regions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
A thrill—of excitement and fear and high, burning astonishment—passed through him.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Weirich must have known about the book burnings and anti-Jewish laws, but he was at first largely silent about them in his diary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
They were also sent into the streets in 2023 after a wave of truck burnings raised fears of wider unrest.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
Last year, Sapo accused Iranian intelligence of hacking into a text messaging service to send 15,000 messages to Swedes, after several Quran burnings.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2025
"As natural habitats adapted to these controlled burnings, we see the expansion of fire-adapted species such as Eucalyptus, primarily on the wetter, eastern side of the Bass Strait islands," said Adeleye.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 16, 2024
No burnings today, and none tomorrow... but if the snows continue, how long before the king s resolve begins to weaken?
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
