# burn the candle at both ends

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/burn-the-candle-at-both-ends
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To work hard night and day; to sleep late and wake up early; to overwork or overexert oneself.

## Examples

- You will get sick if you burn the candle at both ends.
- I burn the candle at both ends during the busy holiday season.
- He has been burning the candle at both ends to finish his degree while working full-time.
- Parents often burn the candle at both ends when they try to balance a demanding career with caring for a newborn baby at night.
- By burning the candle at both ends for months, she eventually reached a state of total exhaustion that forced her to reconsider her priorities.

## Origin

Attested in the 18th century, the phrase is a calque of the French expression brûler la chandelle par les deux bouts. Its original sense described a state of being doubly profligate, a condition of wastefulness regarding one’s resources that preceded the modern association with a lack of sleep. To consume a candle from both ends is to exhaust the light twice as quickly as necessary, a logistical inefficiency that became a metaphor for the rapid depletion of one's wealth or health.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.