Word.ws English Dictionary

burnt one's bridges

burnt 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 burnt one's bridges

What is burnt one's bridges the simple past and past participle of?
Burnt one's bridges is the simple past and past participle of burn one's bridges.

Words near burnt one's bridges in the dictionary

  1. burnt off
  2. burnt offering
  3. burnt offerings
  4. burnt one down
  5. burnt one's boats
  6. burnt one's bridges
  7. burnt one's fingers
  8. burnt one's toast
  9. burnt orange
  10. burnt oranges
  11. burnt out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: burnt 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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