burning
Americanadjective
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aflame; on fire.
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very hot; simmering.
The water was burning.
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very bright; glowing.
She wore a burning red bathing suit.
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caused by or as if by fire, a burn, or heat.
He had a burning sensation in his throat.
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intense; passionate.
a burning desire.
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urgent or crucial.
a burning question.
noun
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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.
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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
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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
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overheating of an alloy during heat treatment in which local fusion or excessive oxide formation and penetration occur, weakening the alloy
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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 vineyards, which are mainly located to the east of Bordeaux, were largely spared by the fire, which is mainly burning through pine forests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
The major fires have been burning for two or three days, with many hundreds of firefighters battling them around the clock, to the point of exhaustion.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
The smell of burning reached central Madrid early Saturday, as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was set to visit the zone wracked by what officials have called the surrounding region's worst fire on record.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
A number of buildings and vehicles on farmland were gutted by the fire, which was expected to keep burning into Saturday.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
I look out into the auditorium, the bright spotlights burning my eyes.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
In August 2023, Sweden's intelligence service Sapo raised its threat level to four on a scale of one to five, saying the Koran burnings had made the country a "prioritised target".
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
On Friday, she urged people to get copies of The Handmaid's tale before "they have public book burnings of it".
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 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
Sweden raised its terror threat level last year following a series of burnings of the Quran that triggered protests in the Muslim world.
From Seattle Times ● May 2, 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
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.
