How to Use burn in a Sentence

burn

1 of 2 verb
  • Parts of the house were badly burned in the fire.
  • A small fire burned brightly in the fireplace.
  • The wildfire has burned acres of forest.
  • There was a little stove burning in the front room.
  • The new town law makes it illegal to burn trash.
  • Be sure not to leave any candles burning when you go to bed.
  • I could smell smoke and knew that something was burning.
  • A flame is kept constantly burning at the monument.
  • I burned the letter when I had finished reading it.
  • The worst types of wood to burn?
    — Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 2 Nov. 2025
  • Your light burns so bright in all our hearts!
    — Alex Heigl, PEOPLE, 10 Jan. 2026
  • Your light burns so bright in all our hearts!
    — Jessica Lynch, Billboard, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Fire has been burning on city land.
    — Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Most of them are for a burning smell.
    — Ted Scouten, CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Ramesses was burned over most of his body.
    — Alexandra Simon, CBS News, 31 Jan. 2026
  • Brian didn’t want to burn him out.
    — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2026
  • One day, this paradise would burn.
    — Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2026
  • Dogs can burn the pads of their feet on the hot pavement.
    — Joan Morris, Mercury News, 13 Apr. 2026
  • The cold made my fingers and toes ache, and my lungs burn.
    — Elizabeth Kelsey, Time, 26 Jan. 2026
  • The thought swings through her, like a burning stick through night air.
    — Maggie O’Farrell, Literary Hub, 2 June 2026
  • Blue Fire has been burning on state land.
    — Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 11 Oct. 2025
  • And her group learned of a man whose van was stolen at gunpoint and burned.
    — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Collins Fire has been burning on city land for two hours.
    — Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Over 700,000 acres of land burnt.
    — Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Cal Fire crews said the fire burned just under an acre.
    — Brandon Downs, CBS News, 24 May 2026
  • So many putts burned the edge, and then the last one dropped from 30 feet.
    — CBS News, 23 Feb. 2026
  • The irony of the moment burned even hotter.
    — Denny Alfonso, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
  • As the fire burned on for hours, crews sprayed water on the tanker to keep it cool.
    — Matthew Ablon, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2026
  • But the bacon burnt ends won instant and high praise.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 27 Jan. 2026
  • All while cuddled up in front of a wood-burning fire.
    — Miranda Crowell, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 June 2026

burn

2 of 2 noun
  • The poignant burn of shin splints.
    — Marisa McMillan, Outside, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Some of my burns are from that.
    — Gillian Telling, PEOPLE, 20 Sep. 2025
  • The planned burn as seen from afar.
    — Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 20 May 2026
  • Love at first sight or slow burn?
    — Julie Jordan, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025
  • The jeans were more of a slow burn.
    — Kaelin Dodge, InStyle, 17 Feb. 2026
  • The sealed market here is a slow burn.
    — Corey Merriman, New York Times, 13 May 2026
  • Each has a burn time of more than 12 hours.
    — Melanie Fincher, Southern Living, 6 Oct. 2025
  • And when that happens, your city burns.
    — CBS News, 8 Feb. 2026
  • Too much burns roots and can kill a plant outright.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Aim to trim it to about ¼ inch before each burn.
    — Michael Stefanov, Robb Report, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Her dress burns like the end of a glowing cast iron.
    — Bryan West, Nashville Tennessean, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Every hour has a price tag that your burn rate can feel.
    — Alla Adam, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • New growth turns to mush or burns, crisping to black and brown.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 24 Feb. 2026
  • This way, if a burn escapes, it can be dealt with right away.
    — Eleanor McCrary, USA TODAY, 8 June 2023
  • The burn is the shape of Australia.
    — Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
  • The Sculptra has been a slow burn.
    — Essence, 2 Sep. 2025
  • The slow-burn romance hurts in the best way, and the twist knocked me out.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026
  • This is where Halvorson has his burns and wounds cleaned.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Sep. 2025
  • From then on, the final frame was a slow burn of foul calls and free throws.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 14 Jan. 2026
  • Coal ash is what is left after a power plant burns coal.
    — Alex Burton, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2026
  • One compounds; the other has a high burn rate.
    — Laura Jayne Waters, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
  • Five firefighters have burns to the hands and face.
    — Bonny Chu , Landon Mion , Elizabeth Pritchett, FOXNews.com, 6 Nov. 2025
  • That could be cutting trees or prescribed burns.
    — Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 27 Apr. 2026
  • The burn turned a darker red, the color of a port-wine stain.
    — Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
  • The blast left a grid pattern of burns on his chest and stomach.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025
  • In other words, the paper isn’t just about how a joint burns.
    — Sara Payan, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Too much burns roots and can encourage soft, pest-prone growth.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Break open its thick, fleshy leaves to reveal burn-healing gel.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 10 Feb. 2026
  • All three sustained third-degree burns from the blaze.
    — Abigail Adams, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
  • The grip has a burn guard to keep your fingers safe from the hot surface.
    — Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 10 Oct. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'burn.' 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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