# burning

/ˈbɝnɪŋ/ (US) · /bˈɜːnɪŋ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/burning
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. on fire

adjective · CEFR A2

on fire or being destroyed by flames.

For teachers: undergoing combustion; being consumed by fire.

- The smell of burning wood filled the air as they sat by the campfire.
- Firefighters worked through the night to prevent the burning debris from collapsing onto the neighbouring residential structures.

### 2. very hot

adjective · CEFR B1

feeling very hot, often in a painful way.

For teachers: producing or characterised by a sensation of intense heat.

- He had a burning fever and needed to stay in bed all day.
- The athlete felt a burning sensation in her lungs as she pushed through the final hundred metres of the steep uphill climb.

### 3. strong or urgent

adjective · CEFR B2

describing a very strong feeling or a question that needs an answer right away.

For teachers: characterised by intense passion, urgency, or importance; often used to describe desires or topical issues.

- She had a burning desire to travel the world after she finished school.
- The committee addressed the burning issue of housing affordability, which had dominated local political discourse for several months.

### 4. the act of fire

noun · CEFR B1

the process of something being on fire or being hurt by fire.

For teachers: the physical process of combustion or the resulting injury or damage caused by exposure to fire or heat.

- The controlled burning of the fields helps the new grass grow better.
- The accidental burning of the historical archives resulted in the irreparable loss of several eighteenth-century manuscripts.

### 5. cryptocurrency

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

the act of permanently removing digital coins from circulation to increase their value.

For teachers: the process of sending cryptocurrency tokens to an unusable address to permanently remove them from the circulating supply.

- The company announced a burning of one million tokens to help stabilize the price.
- By implementing a regular burning mechanism, the developers aimed to create deflationary pressure on the asset's total market supply.

## Examples

- The burning of wood produces smoke.
- The controlled burning of dry grass helps prevent larger wildfires during the hot summer months.
- Environmental regulations have become stricter regarding the open-air burning of industrial waste due to the release of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere.

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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.