Refine this word faster
Burn out
Definitions
- 1 Nonstandard spelling of burnout. alt-of, countable, nonstandard, uncountable
"His burn out hadn't been caused by too many dead bodies; it was from spending his life doing for people what most of them had refused to do for themselves."
- 1 To destroy by fire. transitive
"All four engines and the entire train were derailed, and owing to the fact that all the vehicles except the sleeping cars were gas-lit, the whole of the coaching stock except the two rear brakes was burned out, beginning with the two front coaches, which were completely wrecked."
- 2 melt, break, or become otherwise unusable wordnet
- 3 To become extinguished due to lack of fuel. intransitive
"The candle finally burned out."
- 4 To become nonfunctional (especially of lightbulbs or similar light-producing devices). intransitive
- 5 To tire due to overwork; to overwork to one's limit. intransitive
"After six months of twelve-hour workdays, most people just burn out and quit."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To cause (someone) to tire due to overwork; to cause (someone) to overwork to one's limit. transitive
- 7 To end one's shift at a job. intransitive, slang, uncommon
"I start my shift at three in the afternoon, and get to burn out at midnight."
- 8 To have one's tires skid against the ground; to peel off, peel out. intransitive
- 9 To make (someone) unavailable for work involving exposure to ionizing radiation by employing (the person) in such work until the person's accumulated exposure reaches the maximum permitted for an administrative period, typically a year. idiomatic
"The repairs on this nuclear reactor have burned out every welder in the province."
- 10 To use up too much energy when first bowled and to therefore not finish strongly. intransitive
See also for "burn out"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: burnout