For forms see the verb. [f. BURN v.1 + -ING2.] That burns (in the various senses of the verb).
I. Connected with the intr. senses of the verb.
1. In a state of active heat, glowing, flaming.
c. 1000. Ælfric, On O. T., in Sweet, Ags. Reader (1879), 68. Ðas þri cnihtas het se cyning awurpan into byrnendum ofne.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 41. On berninde fure.
c. 1270. Saints’ Lives (Laud MS. 1887), 234. For in þe brennynde hulle … Mi riȝte is to brennen Inne.
c. 1430. Life St. Katharine (1884), 41. Among þe faumes of þat brennyng fyre.
1517. Torkington, Pilgr. (1884), 37. In the likenesse of brennyng tongis.
1713. Young, Last Day, III. 209. Bound to the bottom of the burning pool.
b. transf. Of fever, thirst, etc.: Characterized by great heat, raging, violent.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XX. 83. Byles and bocches and brennyng agues.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., 518. A feaver, burning, tertian, and exquisite, requireth a liquid consistence.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., s.v., On account of a sensation of heat … we say a burning fever.
1857. Livingstone, Trav., ii. 52. In a state of burning thirst.
c. fig. Of the passions: Ardent, glowing: vehement, excited.
a. 1300. Cursor M., Resurrection, 264, p. 988. With brennand luf scho dwelled.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 164. So brenninge plesaunce that they wol neuer eschew thaire synne.
1552. Lyndesay, Monarche, 2570. Thare byrnand yre.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 81, ¶ 3. A burning Desire to join that glorious Company.
1814. Southey, Roderick, xxiv. With copious tears Of burning anger.
1862. Stanley, Jew. Ch. (1877), I. xiii. 260. A burning enthusiasm.
1871. R. Ellis, Catullus, lxiv. 226. This burning sorrow within me.
d. fig. In burning shame, disgrace, etc., the prevailing idea is now perhaps ‘flagrant, flaming, conspicuous’; but there is often a mixture of notions derived from other senses, such as those of branding, stigmatizing; torturing as an inward fire; causing the cheeks to glow, etc.
1605. Shaks., Lear, IV. iii. 48. Burning shame Detains him from Cordelia.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 44, ¶ 5. It is really a burning shame this Man should be tolerated.
1817. Chalmers, Astron. Disc., VI. 202. [To] sit down in patient endurance under the burning disgrace of such a violation.
2. On fire, as a combustible; in process of being destroyed by fire; enveloped in flames.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Deut. ix. 15. Þa ic nyþereode of þam byrnendan munte.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 27. He mahte iseon ane berninde glede.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 2236. Lucafer þanne tok op an-haste þe brennyngest bronde a couþe.
a. 1502. Arnolde, Chron. (1811), p. xx. Bering burning coles.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, IV. ii. 107. The Sentinell … ought to cock his burning match.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 69. A fiery deluge, fed With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum’d.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 281, ¶ 13. A Pan of burning Coals.
1867. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (ed. 3), I. v. 324. They were hardly clear of the burning town.
b. fig. Burning matter, burning question (cf. F. question brûlante, Ger. brennende Frage): one that is under hot discussion, or about which the public are excited.
1865. M. Arnold, Ess. Crit., i. (1875), 42. Where these burning matters [politics and religion] are in question, it [criticism] is most likely to go astray.
1873. Disraeli, in St. James’s Gaz. (Feb. 1882). Those institutions … in due time will become great and burning questions.
a. 1883. Max Müller, India, What Can It Teach Us? i. (1883), 32. Take any of the burning questions of the day.
c. fig. That is on fire with feeling and passion, or that glows with vehemence; ardent, fiery.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter xxiii. 6. Þa ere þai þat ere brennandere in luf.
1508. Fisher, Wks., I. (E. E. T.), 182. Shynynge in fayth … brennynge in charyte.
a. 1560. Rolland, Crt. Venus, Prol. 68. Bauld and birnand in rancour and malice.
1819. Byron, Juan, III. lxxxvi. The isles of Greece! Where burning Sappho lov’d and sung.
1873. G. C. Davies, Mount. & Mere, xiv. 117. I had prepared a most burning and eloquent address.
3. In a highly heated state; exceedingly hot. † Burning line: the equator (obs.). Burning zone: the torrid zone (poet.).
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, C iij b. The devil … dyde put brennyng nedles through her browes.
1553. Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 10. Vnder the Equinoctial or burninge lyne.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min. Engendring cholerick humours, and burning bloud.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 390. In the Desart Land Of Libya travels, o’er the burning Sand.
1713. Addison, Cato, I. iii. 31. Lord of half the burning Zone.
1807. Crabbe, Library, 318. We trace In dens and burning plains, her savage race.
b. Burning scent: strong, very ‘warm’ scent; burning chase: hot, uninterrupted, pursued without a check.
1681. Dryden, Span. Fryar, II. (J.).
| I had a glimpse of him; but he shot by me | |
| Like a young Hound upon a burning scent. |
1755. Young, Centaur, Wks. 1762, IV. 182. Ye staunch pursuers of Pleasure Opening full cry on its burning Scent.
1854. R. Massie, in Bk. Praise, iv. No. 358 (1862), 384. The hart … Heated in the burning chace.
1859. Rarey, Art Taming Horses, xii. 200. Burning scent.—When hounds go so fast, from the goodness of the scent, they have no breath to spare, and run almost mute.
4. That burns luminously; giving light, shining; transf. glowing as if incandescent.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John v. 35. He was byrnende leoht-fæt and lyhtende.
1297. R. Glouc., 534. The bissops amansede alle … Mid berninde taperes.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. ix. (1495), 759. The serpent Ophites is paynted wyth brennyng speckles.
c. 1430. Lydg., Bochas, VI. i. (1554), 143. Brenning eyen sparkling of their light.
1564. Becon, Gen. Pref., in Wks. (1843), 18. They are … like unto a brenning candle.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., I. v. 6. Burning blades about their heades [they] doe blesse.
1821. Shelley, Prometh. Unb., II. i. 22. The burning threads of woven cloud unravel.
II. Connected with the trans. senses of the verb.
5. Affecting with heat; scorching, withering.
1382. Wyclif, Gen. xli. 23. Other seuen [eeris], thinne and smytun with a brennynge blaste.
c. 1620. Z. Boyd, Zion’s Flowers (1855), 38. The burning ray, That from the sun comes.
1718. Pope, Iliad, I. 89.
| So Heav’n aton’d shall dying Greece restore, | |
| And Phœbus dart his burning shafts no more. |
1805. Wordsw., Waggoner, I. 1. ’Tis spent—this burning day of June!
b. Causing a sensation like that of contact with fire. † Burning water = ardent spirit (obs.).
1460–70. Bk. Quintessence, 2. Oure quinta essencia … hath .iij. names … brennynge watir, þe soule in þe spirit of wyn, and watir of lijf.
1528. Paynell, Salerne Regim., F iv b. Wyne citrine is not so burnynge as redde claret.
1559. Morwyng, Evonym., 8. Brenning water … doth … make hoat and dry mens bodies.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. lxxxvii. 129. The small burning Nettell.
1878. Britten & Holland, Plant-n., Burning Nettle, Urtica urens, L.
c. That resembles heat in its effects.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 675. Burning Isicles are lodg’d within.
1821. Shelley, Prometh. Unb., I. 33. The bright chains Eat with their burning cold into my bones.
6. quasi-adv., as in burning hot.
1475. Bk. Noblesse (1860), 6. Now at erst the irnesse be brennyng hote in the fire.
1549. Compl. Scot., vi. 52. Ther tua symmyrs ar vondir birnand heyt.
Mod. It was a burning hot day in July.
7. In parasynthetic combinations.
1597. Drayton, Mortimer., 145. His Cradell Phalaris burning-bellyed Bull.
