burnt

A burnt child dreads the fire.

Prov. If something has hurt you once, you avoid it after that. (See also .) Jill: Let's go ride the roller coaster! Jane: No, thanks. I got sick on one of those once, and a burnt child dreads the fire. Ever since Cynthia rebuffed me so rudely, I've avoided asking her for anything; a burnt child dreads the fire.

See also: child, fire

eyes like two burnt holes in a blanket

Rur. eyes with dark circles around them. I can tell you ain't slept. You got eyes like two burnt holes in a blanket.

See also: blanket, eye, hole, like, two

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be burnt to a crisp  (mainly British) also be burned to a crisp (mainly American)

to be very burnt By the time I remembered the pizza was in the oven, it was burnt to a crisp.

See also: crisp

burn your fingers  also have/get your fingers burned/burnt

to suffer unpleasant results of an action, especially loss of money, so you are not keen to try the same thing again Many investors burn their fingers when they are tempted by get-rich-quick schemes. Several art dealers got their fingers burned on old master paintings that later turned out to be fakes.

See also: burn, finger

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burn your fingers also get (your fingers) burned

to have a bad result from something, esp. to lose money Many investors burned their fingers on those stocks. The museum has gotten burned on several paintings purchased recently that have turned out to be fakes.

See also: burn, finger