How to Use barn burner in a Sentence

barn burner

noun
  • The game should be a real barn burner.
  • That was a bit more of a barn burner than the others.
    — Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 27 May 2026
  • That’s a shame, because the play is an absolute barn burner.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Sep. 2025
  • This is a pull-out-all-the-stops over-the-top barn burner of a sandwich that will knock anyone's socks off.
    — Christopher Michel, Country Living, 17 May 2023
  • Meanwhile, the matchup of the Rams and Chiefs is likely to be a barn burner as well.
    — Chris Morris, Fortune, 27 Nov. 2022
  • Taylor’s stump speech isn’t a barn burner with a dramatic crescendo.
    — Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2020
  • The two programs will compete for the Victory Bell, and this matchup should be a barn burner.
    — Doug Ziefel, Chicago Tribune, 19 Nov. 2022
  • Our job is to cover the immediate past in full, living color, whether the contest is a barn burner or a rout.
    — Harper's Magazine, 2 July 2024
  • Stapleton has a voice that can’t miss, and his band’s performance in the round was a true barn burner, complete with a pedal-steel solo.
    — Justin Curto, Vulture, 10 June 2021
  • Thus far this game has seemed almost eerily quiet compared to the barn burner in Kansas City earlier in the day.
    — Benjamin Hoffman, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2020
  • The first WrestleMania main event between two Black performers is a barn burner.
    — Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2025
  • The public is clearly rooting for a barn burner to open the new season, evidenced by 57 percent of all wagers coming in on the over.
    — Alex Kay, Forbes, 9 Sep. 2021
  • Three weeks in and there have been upsets, barn burners decided in the final seconds, and marquee wins that will pay dividends in late October.
    — Adam Baum, Cincinnati.com, 9 Sep. 2017
  • Thankfully for fans, Godwin and his slammin' band had rolled through touching ballads and barn burners before the show was stopped by event organizers.
    — Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 16 June 2024
  • This six-piece, hard driving bluegrass band from North Carolina is sure to stir souls with their unique blend of songs, ranging range from pulse-pounding, dynamic barn burners to emotional tunes sung from the heart.
    — Lois Szymanski, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 27 Aug. 2019
  • But Atim is already thinking about how to further grow the character, and her direct-to-camera speech in Akasha’s final moments in the episode is a barn burner of fury and vengeance that will hopefully secure the series a fourth season.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 7 July 2026
  • If Daniels and Harrell catch lightning in a bottle and get the passing game going against a stout Pitt defense, this game has all the makings of a barn burner, especially with the hosts being shallow on vertical threats.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 29 Aug. 2022
  • The Magic bested the defending champion Boston Celtics 95-93 in Orlando in a close contest that remained a barn burner down the stretch.
    — Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025
  • Still, through only four games, this year’s final is on pace to be the worst in terms of GSAx, with only the 2010 barn burner between Chicago and Philadelphia below it.
    — Jesse Granger, New York Times, 11 June 2026
  • Throw in an attempt to help part of Illinois secede and join the Hoosier state and visits from everyone from Tucker Carlson to JD Vance, and 2025 has shaped up to be quite a barn burner.
    — Hayleigh Colombo, IndyStar, 24 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barn burner.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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