back burner
nounDefinition of back burner
: the condition of being out of active consideration or development —usually used in the phrase on the back burner
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Other Words from back burner
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transitive verb
Examples of back burner in a Sentence
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While Schultz had been trying to expand the Seattle company's premium business, dubbed Reserve, along with Italian bakery Princi, analysts have speculated that these may be put on the back burner under the new leadership. — Leslie Patton, chicagotribune.com, "Starbucks plans to open fewer stores in U.S. while closing many in larger cities," 19 June 2018 The family separation idea stayed on a back burner, and by the time Kelly moved to the White House to become chief of staff, arrests along the Mexico border were slowly rising again. — Nick Miroff, Anchorage Daily News, "Obama's Cabinet shelved deterrent, but Trump's was willing to try it," 20 June 2018 The family separation idea stayed on a back burner, and by the time Kelly moved to the White House to become chief of staff, arrests along the Mexico border were slowly rising again. — Nick Miroff, Washington Post, "Trump didn’t invent family separation, but his administration was willing to try it," 19 June 2018 As part of the IG investigation, the inspector general searched for evidence that the laptop issue was put on a back burner by sympathetic FBI agents to protect Clinton. — Warren Richey, The Christian Science Monitor, "Inspector general on Comey: dissecting an error in judgment," 15 June 2018 Residential solar a 'tough business' The pressure on Tesla to turn Model 3 into a market leading electronic vehicle and financial success story has some analysts wondering if solar might stay on the back burner. — Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, "Burning for Tesla Powerwall? Get ready to wait as Musk's solar vision takes a backseat to Model 3," 13 July 2018 There’s also no getting around the simple point that could shove these stories to the back burner in short order: Wisconsin does not appear to be slowing down any time soon. — Chris Johnson, SI.com, "Hunter Johnson's Transfer to Northwestern Adds New Dimension to Future of Big Ten West," 12 June 2018 That plot twist aside, though, the show put bipolar disorder mostly on the back burner in Seasons 5 and 6, keeping Carrie on her meds and painting her as more fretful and anguished than erratic. — Mike Hale, New York Times, "‘Homeland’ Season 7: Once Again, It’s All Up to Carrie," 9 Feb. 2018 Good luck finding the center’s new Hall of Fame that was promised a few years ago: on the back burner. — Michael Cooper, New York Times, "Turmoil at Lincoln Center: Infighting, Money Troubles, Scrapped Projects," 1 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'back burner.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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