Burn \Burn\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Burned (?) or Burnt (?); p.
pr. & vb. n. Burning.]
[OE. bernen, brennen, v. t., early
confused with beornen, birnen, v. i., AS. b[ae]rnan, bernan,
v. t., birnan, v. i.; akin to OS. brinnan, OFries. barna,
berna, OHG. brinnan, brennan, G. brennen, OD. bernen, D.
branden, Dan. br[ae]nde, Sw. br["a]nna, brinna, Icel. brenna,
Goth. brinnan, brannjan (in comp.), and possibly to E.
fervent.]
1. To consume with fire; to reduce to ashes by the action of
heat or fire; -- frequently intensified by up: as, to burn
up wood. ``We'll burn his body in the holy place.''
--Shak.
2. To injure by fire or heat; to change destructively some
property or properties of, by undue exposure to fire or
heat; to scorch; to scald; to blister; to singe; to char;
to sear; as, to burn steel in forging; to burn one's face
in the sun; the sun burns the grass.
3. To perfect or improve by fire or heat; to submit to the
action of fire or heat for some economic purpose; to
destroy or change some property or properties of, by
exposure to fire or heat in due degree for obtaining a
desired residuum, product, or effect; to bake; as, to burn
clay in making bricks or pottery; to burn wood so as to
produce charcoal; to burn limestone for the lime.
4. To make or produce, as an effect or result, by the
application of fire or heat; as, to burn a hole; to burn
charcoal; to burn letters into a block.
5. To consume, injure, or change the condition of, as if by
action of fire or heat; to affect as fire or heat does;
as, to burn the mouth with pepper.
This tyrant fever burns me up. --Shak.
This dry sorrow burns up all my tears. --Dryden.
When the cold north wind bloweth, . . . it devoureth
the mountains, and burneth the wilderness, and
consumeth the grass as fire. --Ecclus.
xliii. 20, 21.
6. (Surg.) To apply a cautery to; to cauterize.
7. (Chem.) To cause to combine with oxygen or other active
agent, with evolution of heat; to consume; to oxidize; as,
a man burns a certain amount of carbon at each
respiration; to burn iron in oxygen.
To burn, To burn together, as two surfaces of metal
(Engin.), to fuse and unite them by pouring over them a
quantity of the same metal in a liquid state.
To burn a bowl (Game of Bowls), to displace it
accidentally, the bowl so displaced being said to be
burned.
To burn daylight, to light candles before it is dark; to
waste time; to perform superfluous actions. --Shak.
To burn one's fingers, to get one's self into unexpected
trouble, as by interfering the concerns of others,
speculation, etc.
To burn out, to destroy or obliterate by burning. ``Must
you with hot irons burn out mine eyes?'' --Shak.
To be burned out, to suffer loss by fire, as the burning of
one's house, store, or shop, with the contents.
To burn up, To burn down, to burn entirely.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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Burning \Burn"ing\, n.
The act of consuming by fire or heat, or of subjecting to the
effect of fire or heat; the state of being on fire or
excessively heated.
Burning fluid, any volatile illuminating oil, as the
lighter petroleums (naphtha, benzine), or oil of
turpentine (camphine), but esp. a mixture of the latter
with alcohol.
Burning glass, a convex lens of considerable size, used for
producing an intense heat by converging the sun's rays to
a focus.
Burning house (Metal.), the furnace in which tin ores are
calcined, to sublime the sulphur and arsenic from the
pyrites. --Weale.
Burning mirror, a concave mirror, or a combination of plane
mirrors, used for the same purpose as a burning glass.
Syn: Combustion; fire; conflagration; flame; blaze.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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