burn down
verb
burned down or burnt down; burning down; burns down
1
of a building or other structure : to be destroyed by fire
The hotel burned down in 1922.
2
of a fire : to become smaller : to gradually produce less and less flame
We watched the fire as it slowly burned down.
3
: to destroy (something) by fire
Vandals burned down the school.
burned it down
Examples of burn down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Peasants whisper about monsters in the forest, and in the interlude between the wars, Lajos gazes at a house that is burning down and has a premonition of the world-historical destruction to come. —
Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2026 There was a seed for this in the original manuscript; a vague suggestion that Richard, Cleo’s grandfather and one of the Chinese immigrant characters, had participated in an act of arson that had burned down the home of an Afro-Latina character named Lina. —Literary Hub, 23 Apr. 2026 Earlier this month, a fire in Clayton County at the Premier Garden Apartments displaced dozens of people and burned down 18 units. —Rashad Williams, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2026 The June 29 attack was on the 24th anniversary of the former Aryan Nations headquarters being burned down in a training exercise by the local fire district, just miles from the shooting scene. —Nick Penzenstadler, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for burn down
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2026 There was a seed for this in the original manuscript; a vague suggestion that Richard, Cleo’s grandfather and one of the Chinese immigrant characters, had participated in an act of arson that had burned down the home of an Afro-Latina character named Lina. —Literary Hub, 23 Apr. 2026 Earlier this month, a fire in Clayton County at the Premier Garden Apartments displaced dozens of people and burned down 18 units. —Rashad Williams, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2026 The June 29 attack was on the 24th anniversary of the former Aryan Nations headquarters being burned down in a training exercise by the local fire district, just miles from the shooting scene. —Nick Penzenstadler, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for burn down
Cite this Entry
“Burn down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/burn%20down. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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