burning someone at the stake

Verb

burn someone at the stake (third-person singular simple present burns someone at the stake, present participle burning someone at the stake, simple past and past participle burned someone at the stake or burnt someone at the stake)

1. (historical) To execute (someone) by tying them to a post and setting a fire beneath them.
   • Another Spaniard who became a Lutheran, Miguel Servet, actually published a book in which he rejected many Catholic ideas. Servet was smart enough to leave the country before the agents of the Inquisition could find and arrest him. In an ironic twist, however, he also angered members of another...2016 December 15, Kenneth L. Bartolotta, The Inquisition: The Quest for Absolute Religious Power, Greenhaven Publishing LLC, →ISBN, page 69
2. (figuratively) To criticize (someone) publicly and vehemently; to cancel (someone).
   • We mistakenly believe there is only one right answer or belief system (or one wrong problem); we've become addicted to the dopamine hits of “likes” and others' agreement with our ideas; and we've returned to “burning people at the stake” online if we don’t agree with their beliefs.2022 March 28, Peter Gamwell, Jane Daly, Thinker, Learner, Dreamer, Doer: Innovative Pedagogies for Cultivating Every Student’s Potential, Corwin Press, →ISBN