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.
Only Dragon is reusable; the others (including HTV-X) are designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere when their missions are over. Mike Wall, Space.com, 25 Oct. 2025 So a lot of my comedy energy gets burned up in those ways. Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 25 Oct. 2025 These showers occur when Earth passes through the dusty trails left behind by the comet, producing streaks of light as debris burns up in the atmosphere. Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025 Most Orionids are the size of a grain of sand and burn up in the atmosphere and never hit the ground. Dean Regas, Cincinnati Enquirer, 17 Oct. 2025 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 29 Oct. 2025.

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