burn out
1. To cease burning (as of something that is on fire). Get the birthday girl in here before the candles on her cake burn out! At this point, the firefighters are just going to let the fire burn out. The kids were totally mesmerized watching the sparklers burn out.
2. To stop working properly, often through overheating. In this usage, a reflexive pronoun can be used between "burn" and "out." Unfortunately, I think the motor in your lawn mower has burned out. We have to repair the engine before it burns itself out. I was going to make a smoothie, but the blender's not working. I hope the motor didn't burn out.
3. To hollow out by fire, as of a building. The fire completely ravaged and burned out our beloved home. I can't believe the blaze burned out all six of these old row homes. It was eerie, almost post-apocalyptic, to walk by the shop after it had burned out.
4. To force someone to leave a place by setting it on fire. During their attack, the troops burned out everyone in the town. A: "The fire seems very suspicious to me." B: "Do you think someone was trying to burn out the people in this building?" The people in those old row homes were burned out by an arsonist.
5. To overwork or exhaust someone or oneself, especially to the point of no longer being able to maintain a particular level of performance or dedication. In this usage, a reflexive pronoun is often used between "burn" and "out." If you keep staying up so late working on this report, you're going to burn yourself out. Don't burn out your interns by making them come in every day. I'm not surprised she burned herself out—she was doing schoolwork nearly every minute of the day.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.