burn that bridge when one comes to it
burn that bridge when one comes to it verb: to anticipate dealing with a problem or situation either by acting in a manner that alienates or cuts ties with others, or merely with the expectation of encountering trouble.
Verb
burn that bridge when one comes to it (third-person singular simple present burns that bridge when one comes to it, present participle burning that bridge when one comes to it, simple past and past participle burned that bridge when one came to it or burnt that bridge when one came to it)
- To anticipate dealing with a problem or situation either by acting in a manner that alienates or cuts ties with others, or merely with the expectation of encountering trouble.
- That takes care of Kay. As for the man, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.1941, Frank Leslie eds. et al., The American Magazine, volume 132, page 44
- ...when the time came in making the inevitable break. Well — he'd burn that bridge when he came to it.1950, David Albert Davidson, In Another Country, page 204
Forms of burn that bridge when one comes to it
| third-person singular present | burns that bridge when one comes to it |
|---|---|
| present participle | burning that bridge when one comes to it |
| past participle | burned that bridge when one came to it |
| past | burned that bridge when one came to it |
| past participle | burnt that bridge when one came to it |
| past | burnt that bridge when one came to it |
Origin of burn that bridge when one comes to it
A mixed metaphor combining cross that bridge when one comes to it and burn one's bridges.
Questions about burn that bridge when one comes to it
- What does burn that bridge when one comes to it mean?
- Burn that bridge when one comes to it means to anticipate dealing with a problem or situation either by acting in a manner that alienates or cuts ties with others, or merely with the expectation of encountering trouble.
- What part of speech is burn that bridge when one comes to it?
- Burn that bridge when one comes to it is a verb.
- What is the past tense of burn that bridge when one comes to it?
- The past tense of burn that bridge when one comes to it is burned that bridge when one came to it.
Words near burn that bridge when one comes to it in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: burn that bridge when one comes to it (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-burn that bridge when one comes to it.ogg.
Cite this entry: “burn that bridge when one comes to it.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/burn_that_bridge_when_one_comes_to_it. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.