burn
verb (used without object)
to undergo rapid combustion or consume fuel in such a way as to give off heat, gases, and, usually, light; be on fire.
was burning
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past progressiveof burn.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
They are three people who watched the fire get lit and, by their own contemporaneous words, knew exactly what was burning.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
Even after that transmission, I stopped and found someone who was burning tyres underneath a tree.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
He described believing the hot spots were cleared and the threat past, only to see the snow melting a few meters away, meaning the membrane there was burning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Fortunately, the fire was burning at a low intensity at the time, and when fire crews performed an initial assessment, they observed that the stand of trees remained largely intact, according to the park service.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
The green Fall Fiesta flyer was burning a hole in my backpack when I walked up to our building.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
