burned
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Damaged or altered by fire or intense heat: Describes something that has been affected by fire, often resulting in charring, blackening, or destruction.
- Overcooked to the point of being charred or inedible: Specifically refers to food that has been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature, resulting in a blackened, ruined state.
- Treated with heat below the melting point: In contexts like pigments or ceramics, describes a material that has been subjected to high heat to change its properties without fusing it.
Usage and Examples
Describing fire damage:
- The firefighters surveyed the burned remains of the building.
- He found a burned letter in the fireplace.
Describing overcooked food:
- I can't eat this toast; it's completely burned.
- The recipe warned not to leave the sauce unattended, or it would get burned.
Describing a treated material:
- The artist preferred the rich color of burned sienna over the raw pigment.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- "Burned" vs. "Burnt": Both are acceptable as the past tense and past participle of "burn" and as adjectives. "Burned" is more common in American English, while "burnt" is frequently used in British English, especially as an adjective (e.g., ).
- Figurative Use: Can describe intense emotional or physical sensation.
- Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. (Here, "burned" is the past tense verb, illustrating the figurative link).
- He felt a burning desire to succeed. (The adjective "burning" is related).
Variants and Related Words
- Burn (verb): To be on fire; to destroy, damage, or injure by fire or heat.
- Burning (adjective/noun): On fire; very strong or intense (e.g., a question).
- Burner (noun): A part of a stove that produces a flame; or someone/something that burns.
- Burnout (noun): Physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress; also a fire that has consumed all its fuel.
- Sunburned (adjective): Having skin reddened and damaged by overexposure to the sun's rays.
Synonyms
- Charred: Blackened by fire, often implying partial burning.
- Scorched: Slightly burned or discolored by heat.
- Singed: Having the tips or edges lightly burned.
- Overdone: Cooked too much (specifically for food).
- Incinerated: Burned completely to ashes.
Phrasal Verbs and Related Phrases
- Burn down: To destroy completely by fire (for buildings or structures).
- The old factory burned down last night.
- Burn out: To stop functioning because of overheating; or to become exhausted.
- The engine burned out after the long race.
- Many healthcare workers are at risk of burning out.
- Burn up: To be consumed by flames; or to have a very high fever.
- The satellite will burn up upon re-entering the atmosphere.
- The child is burning up with a fever.
Idioms and Common Expressions
- Get your fingers burned / Get burned: To suffer a bad experience or loss, especially in business or relationships, that makes you more cautious.
- He got his fingers burned investing in that startup and now avoids risky ventures.
- Burn the candle at both ends: To work very hard, especially by going to bed late and getting up early.
- You'll get sick if you keep burning the candle at both ends.
- Burn your bridges: To do something that makes it impossible to return to a previous situation.
- By insulting his boss, he completely burned his bridges at the company.
Adjective
- ruined by overcooking
- she served us underdone bacon and burnt biscuits
- destroyed or badly damaged by fire
- a row of burned houses
- a charred bit of burnt wood
- a burned-over site in the forest
- barricaded the street with burnt-out cars
- treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
- burnt sienna