Definition

1. Verb (transitive or intransitive):
   • To be completely consumed or destroyed by fire: To burn until nothing remains.
   • To use up or deplete (energy, calories, resources): To expend something completely, often through vigorous activity.
   • To burn or shine brightly and intensely: To emit a strong, often sudden, light or heat.

Usage and Examples

• To be consumed by fire:

  • The spacecraft will burn up upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.
  • We watched the entire stack of old letters burn up in the fireplace.

• To use up energy:

  • That intense workout really burned up a lot of calories.
  • The old air conditioner burns up too much electricity.

• To burn brightly:

  • The meteor burned up in a brilliant flash across the night sky.
  • The coals burned up as we added more wood to the fire.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• "to burn up with anger/jealousy": To be filled with a very strong, consuming emotion.
  • He was burning up with jealousy when he saw his rival succeed.
• Often implies a process of complete consumption or a high-intensity event, rather than a slow or partial burn.

Variants and Related Words

• Burn down (phrasal verb): To be destroyed by fire, typically referring to a structure (e.g., ). "Burn up" emphasizes the material being consumed; "burn down" emphasizes the structure collapsing.
• Burn off (phrasal verb): To remove or get rid of something by burning, or to use energy through exercise (e.g., ).
• Combust (verb): A more technical synonym for catch fire or burn.
• Incinerate (verb): To destroy something, especially waste material, by burning it to ashes.

Synonyms

• Consume: To use up or destroy, especially by fire.
• Devorate: To eat up or consume destructively (often used figuratively).
• Flare: To burn or shine with a sudden, bright light.
• Expend: To use up (a resource).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Burn out: To stop functioning because of overheating, or to become exhausted from overwork.
  • If you don't take a break, you'll burn out.
• Burn through: To use something (like money or fuel) quickly and carelessly.
  • They burned through their inheritance in a year.

Related Idioms

• Burn the candle at both ends: To overwork oneself by doing too much, especially by staying up late and getting up early.
  • You'll get sick if you keep burning the candle at both ends.
• Burn one's bridges: To destroy one's path, connections, or opportunities, making it impossible to return to a previous state.
  • By insulting his boss, he completely burned his bridges at the company.

Verb

1. burn completely; be consumed or destroyed by fire
   • The hut burned down
   • The mountain of paper went up in flames
2. use up (energy)
   • burn off calories through vigorous exercise
3. burn brightly
   • Every star seemed to flare with new intensity