crisp

be burnt to a crisp

To be or have been significantly burned, as by fire or the sun. The variant spelling "burned" is also commonly used in the headword. If you don't get the bread out of the oven now, it will be burnt to a crisp! I fell asleep on the beach, and now I'm burnt to a crisp.

See also: burnt, crisp

burn (someone or something) to a crisp

1. To burn something, typically when cooking it, to the extent that it is completely charred and blackened. I forgot about the bread I'd put in the oven and burned it to a crisp.

2. To burn someone severely (typically referring to sunburn). Often used in passive constructions. If you lay on the beach all day without any sunscreen, you'll get burned to a crisp.

See also: burn, crisp

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

burn something to a crisp

to burn something totally or very badly. The cook burned the meat to a crisp.

See also: burn, crisp

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

burn to a cinder

Also, burn to a crisp. Destroy by fire; overcook. For example, If I stay in the sun too long, I'll be burnt to a cinder, or He's an awful cook-dinner was burnt to a crisp. Although both expressions can be used literally, they also function as hyperbole, as in the examples.

See also: burn, cinder

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

be burnt to a crisp

1. If something, especially food, is burnt to a crisp, it is badly burnt. By the time I got to the kitchen, the whole thing was burnt to a crisp. Note: Adjectives such as fried are sometimes used instead of burnt. The meat was fried to a crisp.

2. If a person is burnt to a crisp, they are badly sunburned. One day in the Spanish sun and he was burnt to a crisp.

See also: burnt, crisp

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

burn something to a ˈcinder/ˈcrisp

cook something for too long or with too much heat, so that it becomes badly burnt: Alan left the potatoes for so long that they were burnt to a crisp.

See also: burn, cinder, crisp, something

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

crisp

mod. drug intoxicated. (Akin to fried. Compare to toasted.) Man, is he crisp!

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.