Library / English Dictionary

BURN DOWN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Burn completely; be consumed or destroyed by fire

Example:

The mountain of paper went up in flames

Synonyms:

burn down; burn up; go up

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "burn down" is one way to...):

burn; combust (undergo combustion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "burn down"):

incinerate (become reduced to ashes)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Destroy by fire

Example:

They burned the house and his diaries

Synonyms:

burn; burn down; fire

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "burn down" is one way to...):

destroy; ruin (destroy completely; damage irreparably)

Verb group:

burn; combust (undergo combustion)

burn; incinerate (cause to undergo combustion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "burn down"):

backfire (set a controlled fire to halt an advancing forest to prairie fire)

cremate (reduce to ashes)

torch (burn maliciously, as by arson)

scorch (destroy completely by or as if by fire)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They burn down the trees

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