Word.ws English Dictionary

burning one's bridges

burning one's bridges is the present participle and gerund 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 burning one's bridges

What is burning one's bridges the present participle and gerund of?
Burning one's bridges is the present participle and gerund of burn one's bridges.

Words near burning one's bridges in the dictionary

  1. burning nuclear plasma
  2. burning nuclear plasmas
  3. burning off
  4. burning one down
  5. burning one's boats
  6. burning one's bridges
  7. burning one's toast
  8. burning out
  9. burning pavement
  10. burning plasma
  11. burning plasmas

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: burning 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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