burning

[bur-ning]

adjective

1. aflame; on fire.

2. very hot; simmering.

   The water was burning.

3. very bright; glowing.

   She wore a burning red bathing suit.

4. caused by or as if by fire, a burn, or heat.

   He had a burning sensation in his throat.

5. intense; passionate.

   a burning desire.

6. urgent or crucial.

   a burning question.

noun

1. the state, process, sensation, or effect of being on fire, burned, burn, or subjected to intense heat.

2. the baking of ceramic products to develop hardness and other properties.

3. the heating or the calcining of certain ores and rocks as a preliminary stage in various industrial processes.

burning

/ ˈbɜːnɪŋ /

adjective

1. intense; passionate

2. urgent; crucial

   a burning problem

noun

1. a form of heat treatment used to harden and finish ceramic materials or to prepare certain ores for further treatment by calcination

2. overheating of an alloy during heat treatment in which local fusion or excessive oxide formation and penetration occur, weakening the alloy

3. the heat treatment of particular kinds of gemstones to change their colour

Other Word Forms

• burningly adverb
• nonburning adjective
• unburning adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of burning¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English brenning, Old English byrnende; burn ¹, -ing ¹, -ing ²

Example Sentences

"I suddenly could hear a loud screeching noise. There was also a very awful burning smell," he said.

From BBC

“Task” has been steadily burning toward this meeting of its two flawed men, neither of whom entirely registers as protagonist or antagonist.

From Salon

During his playing career, his burning desire to be the best often spilled into raging fires.

From BBC

As the criminals angrily described it to the BBC, "they yanked their own plug - tanking sales, burning logistics, and torching shareholder value".

From BBC

That coincided with rising industrialisation, when burning of fossil fuels, particularly coal, began to heat up our atmosphere, but it's hard to disentangle natural and human causes that far back in time.

From BBC

Related Words

• fiery 
• flaming 
• gleaming 
• glowing 
• hot 
• scorching 
• searing