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Definition of burn out phrasal verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

burn out

phrasal verb
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burn out | burn itself out
  1. (of a fire) to stop burning because there is nothing more to burn
    • The fire had burnt (itself) out before the fire engines arrived.
burn out | burn something out
  1. 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
  1. 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.
    related noun burnout see also burnt-out (2)
burn something out
  1. [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.
    see also burnt-out (1)
See burn out in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

Nearby words

trait
noun
 
 
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