burn up

phrasal 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
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.
Each Starlink satellite is built to last about five years before it is intentionally deorbited and burned up in the atmosphere. Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 11 Jan. 2026 The satellite will deorbit and burn up in the atmosphere later this year. Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 11 Jan. 2026 Additionally, the fire also burned up the crew’s tools, which were stored at Baffert’s home. Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026 If meteoroids survive their trip to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere, they are called meteorites, NASA says. Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 2 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for burn up

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Cite this Entry

“Burn up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burn%20up. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.

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