Word.ws English Dictionary

burned one's bridges

burned one's bridges is the simple past and past participle of burn one's bridges.

Meaning of burn one's bridges

Verb

burn one's bridges (third-person singular simple present burns one's bridges, present participle burning one's bridges, simple past and past participle burned one's bridges or burnt one's bridges)

  1. (idiomatic) To destroy one's path, connections, reputation, opportunities, etc., particularly intentionally.
    • Don't you burn your bridges behind you / You might wanna turn and come back again / The bridge you burn today, you may need it again for tomorrow / Might bring sorrow1974, Ecstasy, Passion & Pain, “Don't Burn Your Bridges Behind You”, in Ecstasy, Passion & Pain

Questions about burned one's bridges

What is burned one's bridges the simple past and past participle of?
Burned one's bridges is the simple past and past participle of burn one's bridges.

Words near burned one's bridges in the dictionary

  1. burned down
  2. burned in
  3. burned off
  4. burned one down
  5. burned one's boats
  6. burned one's bridges
  7. burned one's fingers
  8. burned one's toast
  9. burned out
  10. burned pavement
  11. burned rubber

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: burned one's bridges (page history and authors); burn one's bridges (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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