burn out
phrasal verbburn out | burn itself out
- (of a fire) to stop burning because there is nothing more to burn
- The fire had burnt (itself) out before the fire engines arrived.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
burn out | burn something out
- to stop working or to make something stop working because it gets too hot or is used too much
- The clutch has burnt out.
burn out | burn yourself/somebody out
- to become extremely tired or sick by working too hard over a period of time; to make somebody do this
- If he doesn't stop working so hard, he'll burn himself out.
- By the age of 25 she was completely burned out and retired from the sport.
burn something out
- [usually passive] to destroy something completely by fire so that only the outer frame remains
- The hotel was completely burnt out.
- The car was found abandoned in a wood, completely burnt out.