Pa. t. and pple. burned, burnt. Forms: α. Inf. 1 beornan, (bearnan, bernan), 2–3 beornen, birnen, 2–4 berne(n, 4–6 birne, byrne, 5–7 burne, (6 bourne), 6– burn. Pa. t., str. 1 bearn, (barn), pl. burnon, 3 born, pl. burnen; weak 3–4 bernde, 5 byrnyd, 6 byrned, 7– burnt, 9 burned. Pa. pple. 1 bornen; weak 6– burnt, burned. β. Inf. 1 brinnan, 2–3 brinnen, 3–4 brinne, brin, 4–6 brynne, bryn. Pa. t. (1 bran), 3–5 brint, (3 brind), 4 brinde, 4–5 brynt, 5 brynnede, 5– Sc. brunt, (6 brint). Pa. pple. 3–6 brint, 3–4 brind, 5–6 brynt, 6– Sc. brunt, (6 brount). γ. Inf. 1 bærnan, 2–3 bærnen, barnen, 3 bearnen, Orm. bærnenn. Pa. t. 1 bærnde, 3 barnde, bearnde. Pa. pple. 1 bærned. δ. Inf. 3–4 brennen, 3–6 brenne, bren, brene, 8–9 north. dial. bren. Pa. t. 3 Orm. brennde, 3–5 brende, 3–6 brente, 4–5 brennede, -yde, (5 brend), 4–6 brenned, 4–7 brent. Pa. pple. 3–6 (dial. 6–) brent, (-te, -tte), 3–6 brend, (-de), 6 (9 dial.) brenned, (7 brended). [The modern verb represents two earlier verbs, viz. (1) the intransitive strong vb., Goth. brinnan, (brann, brunnum; brunnans), ON. brinnan (later brennan), OS., OHG., MHG. brinnan, OE. brinnan, by metathesis *birnan, bernan, beornan, (bran, barn, born, bearn; burnon, bornen) ‘ardere’; and (2) the derived factitive weak vb., Goth. brannjan (brannida, branniþs), ON. brenna, OS., OHG. brenn(i)an, (MHG. and Ger. brennen), OE. bærnan (by metathesis for bręnnan), bærnde, ‘urere.’ Beornan and bærnan were still distinct in OE., but ran together early in the ME. period. ME. had four types of the present stem, bern-, brin(n-, barn-, bren(n-, the two former of which appear to represent the intr., and the third the trans. OE. verb; bren(n- appears to be mainly the ON. brenna, but may partly have originated by metathesis from bern-. Of the original strong verb, the strong pa. t. does not appear later than Layamon, and the distinction of transitive and intransitive was soon lost, the different types being used indiscriminately as to sense, though with dialectal preferences. Brenne, brent was the most common type in late ME., and even down to the 16th c., when it was somewhat abruptly dispossessed by burn, burnt, app. the descendant of the earlier bern-, birn-, though the continuity is not very clearly made out, as, between the 13th and 16th c., this type is scarcely recorded in Sc. writers.
In the Teut. brinn-an it is considered that only brin- (:—Aryan *bhren-) belongs to the root, the second n being originally a present suffix: cf. OE. bryne:—OTeut. *bruni-z burning. The root does not appear outside Teutonic: the comparisons often made rest on the untenable assumption that the n of brin- is not radical.
The distinction in usage between the two modern forms of the pa. t. and pa. pple. is difficult to state with precision. Burnt is now the prevailing form, and its use is always permissible; burned is slightly archaic, and somewhat more formal in effect; it occurs more frequently as pa. t., or in combination with the auxiliary have than as ppl. adj.]
I. Intransitive senses.
1. Of fire, a furnace, or conflagration: To be in the state of activity characteristic of fire; to be in the state of combustion. Sometimes the prominent notion is that of intense heat (whence also transf. of a fever, etc.): sometimes that of the visible flaming or blazing.
α. c. 1000. [see BURNING ppl. a.].
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 97. Ic walde sendan fur on eorðan, and ic wile þat hit berne.
c. 1205. Lay., 289. In þere temple he lette beornen enne blase of fure.
1535. Coverdale, Isa. lxv. 5. Smoke and fyre, that shal burne for euer.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., III. i. 113. Sometime a fire [Ile be] … and burne.
1665. in Phil. Trans., I. 80. The Air enters to make the Fire burn.
1864. Tennyson, En. Ard., 72. A still and sacred fire, That burn’d as on an altar.
β. a. 1400. Syr Perc., 440. A bryghte fire … Brynnande therby.
c. 1530. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866), 29. A gret fyre brynnyng vp-an a houce.
γ. c. 1200. Ormin, 10452. Haliȝ Gast iss haliȝ fir, Þatt bærneþþ i þatt herrte.
a. 1225. Moral Ode, 125, in E. E. P. (1862), 30. Þer is fur þat eure barnð.
δ. 1382. Wyclif, Isa. lxv. 5. Fyr brennende all dai.
c. 1400. Maundev., vi. (1839), 69. As the fyre began to brenne.
1534. Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546), P vj. The fire that brenneth in mount Ethna.
b. fig. Of the passions, as love, wrath, etc.; also poet. of a battle: To be fierce, furious; to glow, rage.
α. c. 825. Vespasian Psalter ii. 12. Ðonne beorneð in scortnisse eorre his.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., II. vii. 23. Quench your Loues hot fire … Lest it should burne aboue the bounds of reason.
1611. Bible, Gen. xliv. 18. Let not thine anger burne against thy seruant.
1718. Pope, Iliad, XIII. 313. This said, he rushes where the combat burns.
1844. Mem. Babylonian P’cess, II. 313. The grace of the Holy Spirit … burns in his heart.
1876. Green, Short Hist., i. § 2 (1882), 12. The rage of the conquerors burnt fiercest against the clergy.
δ. c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 1747. Desyr That in his herte brende as any fer.
a. 1541. Wyatt, Lovers Case, 41. Abroad needs must it [love] glide, That brens so hot within.
2. Of matter: To be in process of consumption by fire; to be on fire; to be enveloped in flames.
α. c. 1000. Ælfric, Deut. v. 23. Ȝe ʓehirdon his word & ʓesawon þone munt birnan.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 306. Ȝe schulen … bernen mid him iðe eche fure of helle.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XVII. 619. Thai flaggatis byrnand in a baill.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., clxviii. The fyre In quhich I birn.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 48 b. Chyppes, hey, or hardes, mater apte to burne.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., V. v. 109. That hand shall burne in neuer-quenching fire.
1678. Bunyan, Pilgr., I. 7. A place that burns with Fire and Brimstone.
1728. Pope, Dunc., III. 105. Padua with sighs beholds her Livy burn.
1810. Henry, Elem. Chem. (1826), I. 406. It then burns with a pale yellow flame.
1864. Tennyson, Ringlet, 53. Burn, you glossy heretic.
β. a. 1300. Cursor M., 5742 (Gött.). Ȝon tre … þat brinand semis as on ferre.
15[?]. in Hazl., E. P. P., III. 15. Though he deserve To brynne and stewe In the infernal glede.
γ. c. 1270. Saints’ Lives (Laud MS.) (1887), 229. Þe more þat þe þorn barnde, þe grenore þe leues were.
δ. c. 1300. St. Brandan, 511. So stronge brende the mountayne.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XVII. 326. Brynge in better wode · or blowe it till it brende.
a. 1400[?]. Chester Pl., II. (1847), 148. The fourth daie after then Sea and watter all shall brene.
b. fig. Of persons, of the heart, etc.: To be on fire (with desire, lust, passion, wrath); to glow, pant. Often followed by infinitive of purpose: To desire ardently.
α. c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke xxiv. 32. Næs uncer heorte byrnende [950 Lindisf. bernende; 975 Rushw. biornende; 1160 Hatton beornende] þa he on weʓe wið unc spæc.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 95. Þe halia gast … dude þet heo weren birnende on godes willan.
1552. Lyndesay, Monarche, 4875. That law … Causyng ȝoung Clerkis byrne in lustis rage.
1579. Fenton, Guicciard. (1618), 181. Burning in desire to be reuenged of the Gibelins.
1611. Bible, Rom. i. 27. Men … burned in their lust one towards another.
1720. Ozell, Vertot’s Rom. Rep., I. v. 297. Virginius burnt with Impatience to revenge himself of Appius.
1885. R. L. & F. Stevenson, Dynamiter, xiii. 195. You cannot conceive How I burn to see you on the gallows.
β. a. 1300. Cursor M., 23271. Þai war won to brin in catel wit couetise to win.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Wife’s Prol., 52. Bet is to be wedded than to brynne.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, II. iii. [ii.] 84. Than haistit we, and brint to heir him say.
γ. a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1362. Bearninde al as he was of grome and of teone.
δ. c. 1320. R. Brunne, Medit., 201. Þyn herte shulde brenne for grete loue.
1430. Lydg., Chron. Troy, I. v. For him I brenne as doth the glede.
a. 1547. Earl Surrey, Aeneid, II. 403. To throng out … our hartes brent with desire.
c. lit. and fig. With certain modifying adverbs. To burn out, forth: to burst out in flame (arch.). To burn out, also (quasi-refl. and pass.) To burn itself out, to be burnt out: to burn until extinguished by want of fuel. To burn down, burn low: to burn until it becomes feeble from want of fuel. To burn up: to take strong hold of the combustible material, get fairly alight. Also with certain adjs. denoting the colors or quality of the flame, as To burn red, blue, bright, etc.
1382. Wyclif, Wisd. xvi. 19. Fyr brende out on either side.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., II. i. 34. Violent fires soone burne out themselues.
1814. Lett. fr. England, I. viii. 92. Till the lights were burnt out.
1816. Southey, Ess. (1832), I. 336. In the tenth year of the war, the spirit of Jacobinism was burnt out in France.
1831. Carlyle, Sart. Res., II. ix. 214. Till it burn forth, in our conduct, a visible, acted Gospel.
Mod. Do not let the fire burn out. It is burnt out already. His zeal will soon burn itself out. The fire has burnt down to a spark. Do not go before the fire has burnt up.
¶ Phys. Occasionally used (with conscious metaphor) for: To undergo the same kind of chemical change (oxidation) as in burning, accompanied by more or less evolution of heat.
1885. Huxley, Phys., 17. All parts of the body are continually being oxidized, or, in other words, are continually burning.
3. gen. To become or be violently hot; said of solids or gases (not of liquids). Also of persons: To have a sensation like that arising from exposure to fire; often of the face, as an effect of shame or anger; also (colloq.) of the ears, in allusion to the superstition that a person’s ears feel hot when he is spoken of in his absence.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., in Sweet, Ags. Read., 92. His [Herod’s] lichama barn wiðutan mid langsumere hætan.
1727. De Foe, Syst. Magic, I. ii. (1840), 59. If you put it [lime] into water, it would burn.
1881. Oxfordsh. Gloss., Suppl. (E.D.S.), If it be my own true love, burn, cheek, burn.
† b. To be inflamed, suffer from inflammatory disease. spec. Of a horse: To suffer from glanders. Obs. or dial.
1611. Bible, Lev. xiii. 24. If … the quicke flesh that burneth haue a white bright spot.
1686. Lond. Gaz., No. 2155/4. A dark bay Nag … commonly burning at the left Nostril.
c. fig. The money, etc., burns in one’s pocket, meaning that the owner is eager to take it out, or spend it. (The same notion is expressed by other constructions of the verb; e.g., to burn one’s pocket, a hole in one’s pocket, cf. 16; more rarely the pocket is said to be burning out with its contents.)
1740. Mrs. Delany, Autobiog. & Corr. (1861), II. 165. The post brought me your letter, which burnt in my pocket.
1768. Tucker, Lt. Nat., I. 152. Children … cannot rest till they get rid of their money, or, as we say, it burns in their pockets.
1849. Cobden, Speeches, 82. Your pockets are burning out at the bottom with railway shares.
1885. E. E. Hale, in Harper’s Mag., Feb., 361/1. The thousand dollars was burning in her pocket-book.
d. In certain games: of a person approaching so near to a concealed object sought, that he would feel it very warm or hot, if it were fire. (Cf. WARM.) Hence fig. To approach near to the truth. [Cf. Fr. ‘nous brûlons, comme on dit au jeu de pincette.’]
1821. Blackw. Mag., Jan., 355/2 (Jam.). As children say at hide-and-seek … I do flatter myself that I burn in the conclusion of this paper.
1871. F. Hall, Mod. English (1873), 339. As children say at play, Mr. White burns here.
e. Said poet. or rhetorically of water: To be in violent agitation. rare.
1692. Ray, Disc., iii. (1732), 18. The whole Sea boiled and burned.
1728. Pope, Dunc., II. 184. His [Eridanus’] rapid waters in their passage burn.
4. Of candles, lamps, etc.: To be in process of combustion so as to give light; hence, to flame, give light, shine. Also transf. of the sun, stars, or any other luminary.
α. a. 1000. Cædmon’s Ex. (Gr.), 115. Heofon candel barn.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke xii. 35. Sin eower lendenn begyrde & leohtfatu byrnende [950 Lindisf. bernendo; 975 Rushw. berende; 1166 Hatton bearnende].
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 47. We oȝen … on ure honde beren candele berninde.
c. 1300. St. Brandan, 337. Hou this tapres berneth thus.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 104. This candell burnth dim.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., IV. iii. 275. How ill this taper burns.
1717. Pope, Eloisa, 258. The torch of Venus burns not for the dead.
1871. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 24. So clearly does that light burn for many even now.
β. c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 318. Þe cerge þt stode bryngnyng þt auter by.
δ. c. 1300. St. Brandan, 335. This tapres brende longe ynouȝ.
c. 1420. Sir Amadace (1842), 29. Candils ther were brennyng toe.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 40. A lampe that brenned contynually.
b. Of other objects: To appear as if on fire, glow with light or color.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., xlviii. A ruby … Semyt birnyng vpon hir quhyte throte.
c. 1435. Torr. Portugal, 555. On the tayle an hed ther wase, That byrnyd bryght as anny glase.
1530. Palsgr., 460/2. His eyes burned in his heed, as lyght as a candell.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., II. ii. 197. The Barge she sat in, like a burnisht Throne, Burnt on the water.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 538. With feats of Arms From either end of Heaven the welkin burns.
1708. Rowe, Royal Convert, II. (J.). Oh Prince, oh wherefore burn your Eyes…?
1832. Tennyson, Pal. Art, 48. The light aërial gallery, golden-rail’d, Burnt like a fringe of fire.
1872. Black, Adv. Phaeton, xix. 265. The earth-banks of the railway-line burned crimson under the darkening sky.
† c. Of the sea: To be phosphorescent. Cf. BURNING vbl. sb. 3.
1667. in Phil. Trans., II. 497. At East and South winds it [the sea] burned most.
5. To suffer destruction, injury, change of structure or properties from contact with fire; to be reduced to ashes, a cinder, etc., by fire; to be scorched, charred, etc. Often said of food spoiled by too great or prolonged exposure to heat in roasting or baking. To burn to (the inside of a vessel): to adhere to by burning; also with to (absol. as adv.). To burn away: to be gradually dissipated or consumed by burning (also quasi-refl. to burn itself away). Sometimes with adjs. denoting the result, as to burn black, brown, hard, etc.
α. a. 1225. Ancr. R., 242. Hwo ber euer fur wiðinnen hire þet heo ne bernde?
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., I. ii. 44. The Capon burnes, the Pig fals from the spit.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 10. You must take special Care that your Iron burn not in the Fire.
1709. Brit. Apollo, II. No. 69. 3/2. The Pudding burnt unto the Pot.
1725. Bradley, Fam. Dict., II. s.v. Syrup, Boil it [sugar] to a Caramel, and take great care it does not burn to.
1830. M. Donovan, Dom. Econ., II. 267. The meat would inevitably burn, and become hard and tasteless.
β, δ. a. 1300. Cursor M., 22704. Þis midel erth … Al to noght sal brin awai.
c. 1440. Anc. Cookery, in Househ. Ord. (1790), 439. Boyle hom togedur with esy fire, that hit brenne not.
a. 1520. Myrr. our Ladye, 296. A busshe al on fyre . & yet it brente not.
† b. transf. Of crops, etc.: To be withered by the sun’s heat; to suffer decay in such a manner as to present the appearance of being scorched.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 23. If drye wether come, it [the grass] wyll drye and burne vpon the grounde, and waste away.
1750. Ellis, Mod. Husbandm., II. II. v. 42. The Crop [of turnips] would set, or what we call burn or spoil, if it was not houghed in due Time.
6. To suffer death by fire. Now somewhat arch., the usual modern expression being to be burnt.
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, II. liii. 30. With him content Was she to liue, that would with her haue brent.
c. 1604. J. C., in Shaks. C. Praise, 63. They should all burne for their vilde heresie.
1779. Forrest, Voy. N. Guinea, 170. Here … women often kill themselves, or burn with their deceased husbands; but men also burn in honour of their deceased masters.
1878. Tennyson, Q. Mary, I. i. 7. I can’t argue upon it; but I and my old woman ’ud burn upon it.
7. To burn into (of fire, a caustic, etc.): to eat its way into (a thing or substance). Usually fig. of an event, a conviction, etc.; to make an indelible impression upon (a person’s mind).
1823. Lamb, Elia, Ser. II. Pref. (1865), 238. The impressions of infancy had burnt into him.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., I. xvi. 318. The scenes of the last few hours … burnt into his soul.
1878. Morley, Crit. Misc., Ser. I. 213. Deeply and bitterly the spectacle of this injustice burnt into his soul.
II. Transitive senses.
* to consume by fire.
8. Of fire: To destroy, consume (any combustible object). Of persons: To cause to be destroyed or consumed by fire; to set on fire, commit to the flames. Also absol.
α. c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 61. He wile smite … mid orde . and pilten and bernen.
c. 1205. Lay., 14000. Þurh þi lond heo ærneð & hærȝið & berneð.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XV. 438. Of his menȝhe sum send he For till burne townys twa or thre.
c. 1511. 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.), Introd. 28/2. The towne Bombassa, that they also byrned and robbed.
1535. Coverdale, Rev. viii. 7. The thyrd parte of trees was burnt, and all grene grasse was brent.
1662. Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., I. iii. § 4. Nabonasser did burn and destroy all the antient records of the Chaldæans.
1717. Lady M. W. Montague, Lett., II. xlvi. 38. This letter … you may burn it when you have read enough.
a. 1843. Southey, Roprecht, iii. They were for burning the body outright.
β. a. 1300. Cursor M., 12219. Fur i wat him mai noght brin.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XIII. 737. [He] brynt houss and tuk the pray.
c. 1400. Melayne, 27. [He] Brynnede tham in a fire.
1552. Lyndesay, Monarche, 3476. Quhen all wes brynt,—flesche, blud and bonis.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., 94. Gif ane alledges that ane other hes brunt his house.
γ. a. 1000. Sal. & Sat. (Gr.), 412. Briceð and bærneð bold ʓetimbru.
c. 1200. Ormin, 1529. Þatt illke chaff þatt helle fir shall bærnenn.
1297. R. Glouc., 511. Hii barnde hous & other god, & defoulede louerd & hine.
δ. c. 1154. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1137. § 3. Þa ræueden hi & brendon alle þe tunes.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., B. 916. Þe brath of his breth þat brennez alle þinkez.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 11931. The knightes … brentyn and betyn doun all the big houses.
1507. Bk. Gd. Mann. (W. de W.), L. ij. The Fenix is brente in the myddes of theym.
1528. More, Heresyes, II. Wks. 179/1. The bookes also bee gone and loste, whan there was no law made yet to brenne them.
1657. Howell, Londinop., 120. Beat them to their houses, and brent them therein.
[1796. F. Leighton, MS. Let to J. Boucher, Feb. I heard yesterday from a Shropshire Farmer the old verb bren and its participle brent for burn burnt.]
b. With advbs. or complementary phrases. To burn up: to consume entirely by burning. To burn away: to consume or dissipate gradually by burning. To burn out: to consume the contents and interior of (a building). So also To burn to, into (formerly also in) ashes, powder, etc.; and To burn (a building) down, to the ground.
α. c. 1305. in E. E. P. (1862), 4. Þe fire sal berne vp sinful man þat haþ misdo.
c. 1511. 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.), Introd. 33/1. Thonder & lytenynge shall … bourne theym all in po[w]der.
1611. Bible, Job i. 16. The fire of God … hath burnt vp the sheepe.
1858. Ld. St. Leonards, Handy Bk. Prop. Law, xv. 101. Although the house should be burned down, yet the tenant must continue to pay the rent.
Mod. Newspaper. The first and second floors of the front building were burned out, roofs off.
β. a. 1300. Cursor M., 13237. And al to pouder þai it brint.
1548. Compl. Scot., 21. Vas it [Carthage] nocht brynt in puldir ande asse.
δ. c. 1200. Ormin, 1468. & brenn itt all till asskess þær.
1382. Wyclif, Lev. vi. 10. The asken, the which the fier vowrynge brent out. Ibid., Ecclus. xlix. 8. Thei brenden vp the chosen cite of hoelynesse.
1549. Latimer, Serm. bef. Edw. VI., III. (Arb.), 98. God … brente theym all vp wyth brymstone.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., I. ix. 10. The fire which them to ashes brent.
1863. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s L., II. 176. It were a good job it were brenned down.
c. Used in the imperative as an imprecation.
1711. Swift, Lett. (1767), III. 287. The box at Chester; oh, burn that box, and hang that Sterne.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, xxxix. ‘Why, burn my body!’ said the man.
9. Specific uses of sense 8.
a. To make a burnt-offering of (incense, a victim) to a deity. Also absol. (with incense as implied object).
1535. Coverdale, Ezek. xliii. 21. Thou shalt take the bullock … and burne him in a seuerall place.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 474. One [altar] of Syrian mode, whereon to burn His odious offerings.
1718. Pope, Iliad, I. 607. The priest … burns the offering with his holy hands.
1839. Thirlwall, Greece, II. 232. He burnt a great pile of precious incense on the altar.
1883. M. Schuyler, in Harper’s Mag., Nov., 877/2. Nor it is only these altruistic servants of ‘society’ who burn the lamp of sacrifice before this modern shrine.
β. a. 1300. Cursor M., 1098. He to brin his tend bigan.
δ. c. 1200. Ormin, 1745. Þatt recless … te bisscopp þaer Beforenn allterr brennde.
1382. Wyclif, Lev. vi. 12. He shal brenne the talwȝ of the pesible thingis.
1526. Tindale, Luke i. 9. His lott was to bren odoures.
a. 1556. Cranmer, Wks. (Parker Soc.), I. 85. He … made him carry the same wood wherewith he should be brent.
† b. With metonymy of the object; To burn a country: i.e., to set fire to all objects on the surface of the ground. Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 6139. Mine kene men … al þis lond bearneð.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 2646. Þei hadde luþerli here lond brend and destrued.
1470. Harding, Chron. (1543), 165. Into Fiffes he went, and brent it clene.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. xiii. They lete brenne and destroye alle the contrey afore them.
1571. Campion, Hist. Irel., XI. vii. (1633), 94. He spoyled Arthur Mac Murrough, brent his country.
c. fig. To burn one’s boats: to cut oneself off from all chance of retreat. To burn the Thames: to perform some startling prodigy, ‘set the Thames on fire.’ To burn the mill (in allusion to letting the millstones become red-hot by friction from want of grist).
1719. D’Urfey, Pills (1719), II. 24. His Measure too so scanty, she fear’d ’twould burn her Mill.
1787. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Sir J. Banks & Emp. of Mor., 6. Whose modest wisdom … never aims To find the longitude, or burn the Thames.
1886. Manch. Guard., 23 Feb., 5. The sooner Mr. Goschen burns the boats in which he quitted the shores of Opposition [etc.].
10. To put to death by fire, esp. as a judicial punishment. Now often to burn alive, to death.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21235. Barnabas … bath for-draun and brint [v.r. brend] wit feir.
1547. Homilies, I. Faith, II. (1859), 41. Some have been … beheaded, some brent without mercy.
1552. Lyndesay, Monarche, 5103. Sum hangit … Sum brynt; sum soddin in to leiddis.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., V. iv. 33. O burne her, burne her, hanging is too good.
1635. Pagitt, Christianogr., III. (1636), 112. He was brent for an hereticke.
1685. Lond. Gaz., No. 2080/4. Elizabeth Gaunt likewise Convicted of High Treason was burnt at Tyburn.
1753. Scots Mag., April, 200/2. Anne Williams was burnt at a stake at Gloucester, Apr. 13, for poisoning her husband.
1855. Browning, Heretic’s Trag., Men & Wom., II. 199. They bring him now to be burned alive.
11. To consume for artificial warming or lighting; to keep (a candle, a lamp) alight.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 488, ¶ 3. Let a family burn but a candle a-night less.
1866. Wilson, Chem., 128. Fuel of any kind should never be burned in rooms, unless in fireplaces provided with chimneys.
Mod. I do not burn gas in my bedroom.
¶ Phys. Sometimes used for: To consume by oxidation with evolution of heat (cf. 2 ¶).
Mod. A large portion of our food does not go to form tissue, but is simply burnt as fuel for the production of heat.
b. In fig. phrases: To burn daylight: to burn candles in the daytime, also to waste or consume the daylight. So † To burn seasonable weather: to fail to turn it to advantage, consume, waste (obs.). To burn the (or one’s) candle at both ends; see CANDLE.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., I. iv. 43 (Qo. 1). Merc. We burne daylight here. Rom. Nay thats not so. Merc. I meane sir in delay, We burne our lights by night, like Lampes by day.
1618. Raleigh, Son to Father, in Rem. (1661), 120. It is a strange piece of Art … to lie idely at the road, burning so seasonable weather.
c. 1620. Z. Boyd, Zion’s Flowers (1855), 92. Why burne wee day light? wee have time and place.
a. 1643. W. Cartwright, Ordinary, I. ii. (D.). Her nose the candle … Put out your nose, good lady, you burn daylight.
1682. N. O., Boileau’s Lutrin, III. 100. They burn the day in game, and sport the faster.
1738. Swift, Pol. Conversat., iii. (D.). No candles yet … don’t let us burn daylight.
1820. Scott, Ivanhoe, xliii. Burn not daylight about it; we have short time to spare.
† c. fig. To burn it blue: ? to act outrageously. Obs. slang. (See BLUE.)
1731. Swift, Strephon & Chloe, Wks. 1755, IV. I. 153. Miss Moll the jade will burn it blue.
12. fig. To inflame with desire, love, passion, etc.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4315. First to brin [v.r. bren] þin hert wit-in.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. x. 11. Of cruell Juno the dreid brynt hir inwart.
a. 1528. Skelton, Bk. Fooles, I. 202. Thou brennest the desyres.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 333. With two fair Eyes his Mistress burns his Breast.
** to affect by burning.
13. Of fire, or any heating agency: To produce the characteristic effects of combustion upon; to calcine, char, scorch, discolor, or mark by burning; to spoil food in cooking from such a cause; to alter in chemical composition (by oxidation, volatilization of a constituent, etc.), or in appearance, physical structure or properties, by intense heat. (Not used when the effect is merely that of melting or softening.) Of persons: To expose (something) to the action of fire so as to produce these results; esp. to treat with fire for a specific purpose, e.g., To burn wood (for charcoal), clay (for bricks or pottery), the soil (as an agricultural process). Also with adjs. denoting the result, as To burn hard, red, black, clean.
1519. Interl. Elem., in Hazl., Dodsley, I. 31. Great riches might come thereby, Both pitch and tar, and soap ashes … By brenning thereof only.
1669. Worlidge, Syst. Agric., viii. § 1 (1681), 146. If your land be cold … the best way is … to burn it.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills, V. 142. ’Till Pudding and Dumpling are burnt to Pot.
1726. Lond. Gaz., No. 6438/2. Supposed to be employed in burning Ground in Nottinghamshire.
1846. J. Baxter, Libr. Pract. Agric., II. 25. When bones are burned in the open fire, the animal matter … disappears. Ibid., 186. It is difficult to burn the earth.
b. Hence, To produce (charcoal, bricks, lime, etc.) by burning.
c. 1205. Lay., 15466. Lim heo gunnen bærnen.
1635. J. Babington, Pyrotechn., 7. Take good dry coale, well burnt, and beat it to dust.
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, D ij a. To burn more Lime in twenty four hours time.
1716. Lond. Gaz., No. 5446/9. All [bricks?] that are samel, or under burnt, to be excluded.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe (1840), I. ix. 146. These [earthen vessels] I burnt in the fire. Ibid. (1727), Eng. Tradesm., iii. (1841,) I. 20. The bricks would not be so good … when they were burnt.
c. To burn (metals) together: to join them by melting their adjacent edges, or heating the adjacent edges and running some molten metal of the same kind into the intermediate space.
d. transf. To produce on (anything) an effect resembling that of burning; e.g. (of the sun) to wither, dry up (vegetation), to parch, dry up (the ground); to freckle, embrown, or discolor (the skin), cf. SUNBURNT. Sometimes said of cold, and of certain manures and crops, to express their effect on vegetation or on the soil. † poet. Of cattle: To burn (the ground) bare: to crop it close.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6025. Haile and fir was menged samen … þe gresse it brint.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Compl. Mars, 88. Phebus cam to bren [v.r. birn] hem with his hete.
c. 1425. Three Kings Cologne, 44. Hit wexeþ liche eerys of corn þat were brent with þe wedir.
c. 1511. 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.), Introd. 29/2. Lest that the soon shuld burne hym.
1591. Spenser, Bellay’s Ruines of R., xvii. Scortching sunne had brent His wings.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 527. Vines also are burned therewithal [swine’s dung].
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 271. Goats … graze the Field, and burn it bare.
e. fig. To burn the planks: to remain long sitting.
1843. Carlyle, Past & Pr. (1858), 208. Sit obstinately burning the planks.
14. To wound or to cause pain to (a person, animal, or part of the body) by the contact of fire or of something intensely heated: said both of the fire or heated body itself, and of the person who applies it. Often refl. (of persons, with approach to the passive sense); also in expressions such as To burn one’s finger’s, one’s foot = to suffer injury in those members by burning. Also absol.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7224. Man aght to dred þe brand þat brint [v.r. brende] him forwit in his hand.
1382. Wyclif, Isa. xliii. 2. Whan thou shalt go in fyr, thou shalt not be brent.
a. 1420. Occleve, De Reg. Princ., 2382. He that is brent, men seithe, dredethe the fire.
a. 1520. Myrr. our Ladye, 43. Yt brennyth hym, and woundeth hym so sore.
1596. Drayton, Leg., II. 280. Warm’d with the Fire, that unawares might burne Mee.
1713. Berkeley, Hylas & Phil., I. Wks. 1871, I. 270. When a coal burns your finger.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 28. The power of heat to burn.
b. In fig. phrase, To burn one’s (own) fingers: to sustain damage through meddling with something; rarely To burn (another’s) fingers.
1710. Palmer, Proverbs, 356. The busiebody burns his own fingers.
1713. Guardian, No. 108, ¶ 1. I do not care for burning my Fingers in a Quarrel.
1865. J. G. Holland, Plain Talk, iv. 126. Both are men who … strive to over-reach each other, and burn the fingers of unsuspicious outsiders.
1877. Punch, 26 May, 230/2. Without burning its fingers with Clerical Fellowships, [etc.].
c. To cauterize, as a surgical operation; to brand with the mark of a criminal. To burn out: to destroy (the eyes, etc.) by burning.
1483. Cath. Angl., 32. To Birne with yrne; cauteriare, incauteriare.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, C. vj b. Brynne the narellis [of a hawk] thourogh owte.
1570–87. Holinshed, Scot. Chron. (1806), II. 203. Him that is brunt in the hand.
1595. Shaks., John, IV. i. 59. These eyes … with hot Irons must I burne them out.
1655. Baxter, Quakers Catech., 3. I dare no more accuse them of persecution, then I dare accuse them for persecution who shall burn a Thief in the hand.
1715. Lond. Gaz., No. 5329/4. He … was burnt in the Hand last Assizes at Worcester.
1722. De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 128. Transported felons … burnt in the hand.
d. transf. Said of a caustic, acrid or irritating substance (as vitriol, a blister, etc.); sometimes of intense cold, the effect produced by which resembles that caused by burning: To wound or cause local pain to, in a manner resembling the effect of contact with fire. Also absol.
1509. Fisher, Wks. I. (E.E.T.), 31. Vnprofytable teres whiche intollerably shall scalde & brenne our bodyes.
1562. Turner, Baths, 6 b. If any entring into the bath … thynke … that he is burned.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 212. The snow burneth the Dogs nose.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 595. The parching air Burns frore, and cold performs th’ effect of Fire.
1696. Lond. Gaz., No. 3240/4. His face burnt or scalded by some Humor.
1865. J. H. Newman, Gerontius (1888), 36. Ice which blisters may be said to burn.
† e. To infect with sores; esp. with venereal disease. Cf. 3 b. Obs.
1529. S. Fish, Supplic. Begg. (Arb.), 7. These be they … that be brent wyth one woman, and bere it to another.
c. 1556. Bale, in Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Burning, He [leacherous Weston] not long ago brent a beggar of St. Botolphs parish.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., IV. iii. 58. Light wenches will burne, come not neere her.
15. To drive (a person or animal) out of a place by heat, or by the burning of his dwelling. Phrase, To burn out of house and home.
1710. Lond. Gaz., No. 4702/3. [He] was formerly burnt out of the Fountain Tavern in the Strand.
1780. Pitt, in Earl Stanhope’s Life (1861), I. 43. Thanks to the sun … I was burnt out of my bed this morning before seven o’clock.
16. To make (a mark) on or in, (a hole) in or through, anything, by burning. Also fig. to make (a recollection, a conviction) indelible in a person’s mind. To burn in: to render indelible (the painting upon pottery, etc.) by exposure to fire.
a. 1840. Moore, in Sheridaniana, 61. They [some verses] bear, burnt into every line, the marks of personal feeling.
1860. Gosse, Rom. Nat. Hist., 172. A power which … burnt-in the image of each in his remembrance.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, I. xvii. (1880), I. 244. Her brother’s words … had burnt themselves into her memory.
c. 1865. J. Wylde, in Circ. Sc., I. 389/1. They are ‘burnt in’ on the surface of the ware.
1883. G. H. Boughton, in Harper’s Mag., March, 538/1. Nothing to buy, and unwasted cash ‘burning holes in our pockets.’
17. To burn the water: to spear salmon by torchlight. Also, To burn a bowl, a curling stone, etc.: to displace it accidentally.
1805. Skene, in Lockhart, Scott (1839), II. 265. This amusement of burning the water … was not without some hazard.
1884. Pall Mall Gaz., 19 Aug., 5/1. Water-bailiffs are sent up the rivers at certain times to prevent ‘burning the water.’
Phrase-key:—To burn alive, 10; b away, 5, 8 b; b black, 5, 13; b blue, 2 c; b boats, 9 c; b a bowl, 17; b the breast, 12; b bricks, 13 b; b brown, 5; b a candle, 4, 11; b candle at both ends, 11 b; b charcoal, 13 b; b clay, 13; b a country, 9 b; b a curling-stone, 17; b daylight, 11 b; b down, 2 c, 8 b; ears b, 3; b one’s fingers, 14, 14 b; b forth, 2 c; b ground, 13; b hard, 5, 13; horse b, 3 b; b in, 16; b incense, 9; b into, 7, 16; b into ashes, 8 b; b it blue, 11 c; b lamp, 4, 11; b lime, 13 b; b low, 20; b the mill, 9 c; b offering, 9; b out, 2 c, 8 b, 14 c, 15; b the planks, 13 e: b one’s pocket, 3 c; b red, 2 c, 13; sea b, 4 c; b seasonable weather, 11 b; b soil, 13; b the Thames, 9 c; b to, 5; b to ashes, 8 b; b to death, 10; b to the ground, 8 b; b together, 13 c; b up, 2 c, 8 b; b the water, 17; b wood, 13.
