burn up
verb
burned up or burnt up; burning up; burns up
: to be destroyed or cause (something) to be destroyed by fire
Most asteroids burn up upon entering the Earth's atmosphere.
Wildfires have been raging across the region burning up acres of forest.
Do we still need these old receipts? No, burn them up.
Examples of burn up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly spent weeks burning up the phone lines looking for splash moves to change the complexion of the team around face-of-the-franchise Anthony Edwards.
—
Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 23 June 2026
Rather than allow the observatory to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, NASA turned Swift’s predicament into a test of an emerging technology — robotic satellite servicing.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 21 June 2026
The decay rate will increase as the spacecraft dips into denser layers of the atmosphere until Swift finally burns up during reentry.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 19 June 2026
But in recent years, NASA has noticed that the critical satellite has begun unexpectedly getting lower and lower – putting it in danger of burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 18 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for burn up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 23 June 2026
Rather than allow the observatory to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, NASA turned Swift’s predicament into a test of an emerging technology — robotic satellite servicing.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 21 June 2026
The decay rate will increase as the spacecraft dips into denser layers of the atmosphere until Swift finally burns up during reentry.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 19 June 2026
But in recent years, NASA has noticed that the critical satellite has begun unexpectedly getting lower and lower – putting it in danger of burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 18 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for burn up
Cite this Entry
“Burn up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burn%20up. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
