burn out

Definitions

1. 1

   To destroy by fire.

2. 2

   To become extinguished due to lack of fuel.

   • The candle finally burned out.
3. 3

   To become nonfunctional (especially of lightbulbs or similar light-producing devices).

4. ›+ 8 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To tire due to overwork

      To tire due to overwork; to overwork to one's limit.

      • After six months of twelve-hour workdays, most people just burn out and quit.
   2. 5

      To cause (someone) to tire due to overwork

      To cause (someone) to tire due to overwork; to cause (someone) to overwork to one's limit.

   3. 6

      To end one's shift at a job.

      • I start my shift at three in the afternoon, and get to burn out at midnight.
   4. 7

      To have one's tires skid against the ground

      To have one's tires skid against the ground; to peel off, peel out.

   5. 8

      To make (someone) unavailable for work involving exposure to ionizing radiation by…

      To make (someone) unavailable for work involving exposure to ionizing radiation by employing (the person) in such work until the person's accumulated exposure reaches the maximum permitted for an administrative period, typically a year.

      • The repairs on this nuclear reactor have burned out every welder in the province.
   6. 9

      To use up too much energy when first bowled and to therefore not finish strongly.

   7. 10

      To be destroyed by fire.

      • An abandoned tank was burning out at the edge of the battlefield.
   8. 11

      Nonstandard form of burnout.

      • His burn out hadn't been caused by too many dead bodies; it was from spending his life doing for people what most of them had refused to do for themselves.

The neighborhood