From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
burning
adj 1: producing or having a painfully hot sensation; "begged for
water to soothe his burning throat"
2: intensely hot; "a burning fever"; "the burning sand" [syn:
{burning(a)}]
3: characterized by intense emotion; "ardent love"; "an ardent
lover"; "a burning enthusiasm"; "a fervent desire to
change society"; "a fervent admirer"; "fiery oratory"; "an
impassioned appeal"; "a torrid love affair" [syn:
ardent, {burning(a)}, fervent, fervid, fiery,
impassioned, perfervid, torrid]
4: lighted up by or as by fire or flame; "forests set ablaze
(or afire) by lightning"; "even the car's tires were
aflame"; "a night aflare with fireworks"; "candles alight
on the tables"; "blazing logs in the fireplace"; "a
burning cigarette"; "a flaming crackling fire"; "houses on
fire" [syn: {ablaze(p)}, {afire(p)}, {aflame(p)},
{aflare(p)}, {alight(p)}, blazing, flaming, {on
fire(p)}]
5: of immediate import; "burning issues of the day" [syn:
{burning(a)}]
6: consuming fuel; used in combination; "coal-burning (or
wood-burning) stoves"
n 1: the act of burning something; "the burning of leaves was
prohibited by a town ordinance" [syn: combustion]
2: pain that feels hot as if it were on fire [syn: burn]
3: a process in which a substance reacts with oxygen to give
heat and light [syn: combustion]
4: execution by electricity [syn: electrocution]
5: execution by fire [syn: burning at the stake]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Burn \Burn\ (b[^u]rn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Burned (b[^u]rnd)
or Burnt (b[^u]rnt); p. pr. & vb. n. Burning.] [OE.
bernen, brennen, v. t., early confused with beornen, birnen,
v. i., AS. b[ae]rnan, bernan, v. t., birnan, v. i.; akin to
OS. brinnan, OFries. barna, berna, OHG. brinnan, brennan, G.
brennen, OD. bernen, D. branden, Dan. br[ae]nde, Sw.
br[aum]nna, brinna, Icel. brenna, Goth. brinnan, brannjan (in
comp.), and possibly to E. fervent.]
1. To consume with fire; to reduce to ashes by the action of
heat or fire; -- frequently intensified by up: as, to burn
up wood. "We'll burn his body in the holy place." --Shak.
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2. To injure by fire or heat; to change destructively some
property or properties of, by undue exposure to fire or
heat; to scorch; to scald; to blister; to singe; to char;
to sear; as, to burn steel in forging; to burn one's face
in the sun; the sun burns the grass.
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3. To perfect or improve by fire or heat; to submit to the
action of fire or heat for some economic purpose; to
destroy or change some property or properties of, by
exposure to fire or heat in due degree for obtaining a
desired residuum, product, or effect; to bake; as, to burn
clay in making bricks or pottery; to burn wood so as to
produce charcoal; to burn limestone for the lime.
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4. To make or produce, as an effect or result, by the
application of fire or heat; as, to burn a hole; to burn
charcoal; to burn letters into a block.
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5. To consume, injure, or change the condition of, as if by
action of fire or heat; to affect as fire or heat does;
as, to burn the mouth with pepper.
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This tyrant fever burns me up. --Shak.
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This dry sorrow burns up all my tears. --Dryden.
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When the cold north wind bloweth, . . . it devoureth
the mountains, and burneth the wilderness, and
consumeth the ??ass as fire. --Ecclus.
xliii. 20, 21.
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6. (Surg.) To apply a cautery to; to cauterize.
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7. (Chem.) To cause to combine with oxygen or other active
agent, with evolution of heat; to consume; to oxidize; as,
a man burns a certain amount of carbon at each
respiration; to burn iron in oxygen.
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To burn, To burn together, as two surfaces of metal
(Engin.), to fuse and unite them by pouring over them a
quantity of the same metal in a liquid state.
To burn a bowl (Game of Bowls), to displace it
accidentally, the bowl so displaced being said to be
burned.
To burn daylight, to light candles before it is dark; to
waste time; to perform superfluous actions. --Shak.
To burn one's fingers, to get one's self into unexpected
trouble, as by interfering the concerns of others,
speculation, etc.
To burn out,
(a) to destroy or obliterate by burning. "Must you with
hot irons burn out mine eyes?" --Shak.
(b) to force (people) to flee by burning their homes or
places of business; as, the rioters burned out the
Chinese businessmen.
To be burned out, to suffer loss by fire, as the burning of
one's house, store, or shop, with the contents.
To burn up, To burn down, to burn entirely.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Burning \Burn"ing\, n.
The act of consuming by fire or heat, or of subjecting to the
effect of fire or heat; the state of being on fire or
excessively heated.
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Burning fluid, any volatile illuminating oil, as the
lighter petroleums (naphtha, benzine), or oil of
turpentine (camphine), but esp. a mixture of the latter
with alcohol.
Burning glass, a convex lens of considerable size, used for
producing an intense heat by converging the sun's rays to
a focus.
Burning house (Metal.), the furnace in which tin ores are
calcined, to sublime the sulphur and arsenic from the
pyrites. --Weale.
Burning mirror, a concave mirror, or a combination of plane
mirrors, used for the same purpose as a burning glass.
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Syn: Combustion; fire; conflagration; flame; blaze.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Burning \Burn"ing\, a.
1. That burns; being on fire; excessively hot; fiery.
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2. Consuming; intense; inflaming; exciting; vehement;
powerful; as, burning zeal.
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Like a young hound upon a burning scent. --Dryden.
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Burning bush (Bot.), an ornamental shrub ({Euonymus
atropurpureus}), bearing a crimson berry.
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