burning out

Verb

burn out (third-person singular simple present burns out, present participle burning out, simple past and past participle burned out or (chiefly Commonwealth) burnt out)

1. (transitive) To destroy by fire.
   • All four engines and the entire train were derailed, and owing to the fact that all the vehicles except the sleeping cars were gas-lit, the whole of the coaching stock except the two rear brakes was burned out, beginning with the two front coaches, which were completely wrecked.1941 April, “The Why and the Wherefore: Hawes Junction Collision”, in Railway Magazine, page 191 (the collision occurred in 1910)
2. (intransitive) To become extinguished due to lack of fuel.
   • The candle finally burned out.
3. (intransitive) To become nonfunctional (especially of lightbulbs or similar light-producing devices).
4. (intransitive) To tire due to overwork; to overwork to one's limit.
   • After six months of twelve-hour workdays, most people just burn out and quit.
5. (transitive) To cause (someone) to tire due to overwork; to cause (someone) to overwork to one's limit.
6. (intransitive, slang, uncommon) To end one's shift at a job.
   • I start my shift at three in the afternoon, and get to burn out at midnight.

See all 10 meanings of burn out