burns 1 of 2

verb

Definition of burnsnext
present tense third-person singular of burn
1
as in glows
to be on fire especially brightly all evening long we just sat there, contentedly watching the Yule log burn

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2
as in scorches
to set (something) on fire it is not a good idea to try to burn old papers in the sink

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in steams
to be excited or emotionally stirred up with anger he came home burning with anger because of a reprimand at work

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4
as in flames
to shine with a bright harsh light the bright streetlight outside our motel room burned all night long

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5
as in deceives
to cause to believe what is untrue he's been burned before, so he's careful to double-check such claims now

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6
as in consumes
to make complete use of heedlessly burning the country's resources without any concern for future generations

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

burns

2 of 2

noun

plural of burn, British
as in brooks
a natural body of running water smaller than a river the walkers forded the shallow burn and then came upon a field of gorse

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of burns
Verb
Some fitness enthusiasts swear that working out on an empty stomach burns more fat, while others insist that eating beforehand is essential for maximizing energy and performance. — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026 The living room in this one is a real standout and includes a window seat with integrated storage, along with one of those fancy hanging fireplaces that burns bioethanol. — New Atlas, 30 Aug. 2026 The Monarch Compute Campus burns gas to make its own electricity on site, which means the capacity Anthropic just contracted never enters an interconnection queue at all. — Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026 Impossibly juicy to its core, the chicken is served with a clever tofu-mustard sauce that’s tangy, savory, and smooth (not unlike ranch but also definitely not ranch) and a winning, aromatic jiao chili sauce that burns with a sweet heat. — The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 Aug. 2026 When applied to weeds, vinegar burns the leaves and foliage but not the root system. — Alexandra Kelly, Martha Stewart, 22 Aug. 2026 The clip shows the moment of ignition of one of the spacecraft's six Raptor 3 engines, which burns for approximately 15 seconds. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 21 Aug. 2026 In Figments of Freedom, written, directed by and starring Webber, a Marine goes AWOL, burns his life to ash, and vanishes into America’s fractured heart. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 19 Aug. 2026 Your body burns more calories digesting protein than carbs or fats. — Jillian Kubala, HEALTH, 18 Aug. 2026
Noun
Videos captured flames ripping through the Chez Gado-Gado restaurant in the Seminyak resort area during the incident Sunday, which left an Australian teenager hospitalized with burns, according to 7News. — Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2026 After completing full-body examinations, the doctors found no burns on Fahmy's body, a rarity for lightning strike survivors, Fahmy said. — Megan Fahrney, ABC News, 2 Sep. 2026 The hospital spokesperson told The Indian Express that Kaur had been treated in the Burns ICU and described her injuries as 40 to 45% burns sustained in a petroleum gas cylinder leak. — Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026 Less than a month later, regulators tagged another nursing home, Cascadia of Nampa, with a fine of nearly $90,000 after inspectors reported a resident was hospitalized and later moved out of state for severe burns. — Matan Josephy, Idaho Statesman, 31 Aug. 2026 Some could be trained to conduct prescribed burns, which thin out accumulating fuel. — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026 In 2000, Curtis Jones suffered catastrophic burns over most of his body when an explosion occurred at his workplace. — Ryan Young, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026 But most older cars have halogen lights, which have bulbs that emit a lot of heat and can cause burns, the website said. — Keith Laing, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026 One firefighter was treated on scene and released, and another was taken to a hospital for burns to one of his legs that were not life-threatening. — Joe Brandt, CBS News, 26 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for burns
  1. glows
  2. scorches
  3. steams
  4. glares
  5. deceives
  6. consumes
  7. brooks
  8. blazes
Verb
  • At night, the feathers light up and the whole bird glows across the playa.
    — Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • In New York City, Pete Davidson films his new movie Tommy Karate with a new look, while Savannah Guthrie glows in florals for Roger Federer’s exhibition match at the US Open.
    — Alex Apatoff, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of glows
Verb
  • The city is bracing for triple digit temperatures this week as another heat wave scorches Central and Eastern Europe, driving fears that levels could drop even further.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 5 Aug. 2026
  • France followed its hottest-ever day with yet more brutal temperatures as a deadly heat wave scorches much of western Europe.
    — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 24 June 2026
Definition of scorches
Verb
  • The kitchen steams between 1,500 and 1,800 of three varieties every night at Adams Morgan’s 11-year-old Afghan hot spot.
    — Warren Rojas, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The series left Netflix at the end of June (A Year in the Life remains available there) and currently steams on Hulu and Prime Video.
    — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of steams
Verb
  • My eleven-year-old self rolls her eyes, glares at my thirty-six-year-old body, and silently calls me fat.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025
Definition of glares
Verb
  • The complaint also claims that the image deceives customers into thinking Lipa has endorsed the product and dilutes her brand identity.
    — Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 11 May 2026
  • The fragmentary Ni 12501 tablet from the Early Dynastic III period of Mesopotamia breaks off when Fox deceives the inhabitants of the netherworld in his quest to retrieve the storm god Ishkur.
    — Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Definition of deceives
Verb
  • At risk of power shortages A single large AI data center now consumes as much electricity as a city of 80,000 people, Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla wrote in Fortune this year, and companies are building hundreds of them at once.
    — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026
  • That figure assumes the vehicle consumes 100 watt-hours per mile and its solar panels deliver at least four kWh of usable energy to the battery during the day.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of consumes
Noun
  • The surrounding 23 acres the estate sits on are full of trails ripe for exploring, too, and take visitors past historic stone walls, cemeteries, and babbling brooks.
    — Blair West, Travel + Leisure, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Insects drone over running brooks.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Apr. 2026
Definition of brooks
Verb
  • As the flames approached the community in July, the majority of the village’s 3,500 residents were forced to flee their homes, as hundreds of firefighters were deployed to tackle blazes more violent and unpredictable than in previous years.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Calmer winds and cooler temperatures assisted fire crews in their battle against the Spokane blazes Monday, but temperature are anticipated to climb back into the 90s by Wednesday and continue to push firefighters to their limits.
    — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of blazes

Browse Nearby Words

burn out
burns
burns one's ears
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Cite this Entry

“Burns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/burns. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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