burn down

verb

burned down or burnt down; burning down; burns down
1
of a building or other structure : to be destroyed by fire
The hotel burned down in 1922.
2
of a fire : to become smaller : to gradually produce less and less flame
We watched the fire as it slowly burned down.
3
: to destroy (something) by fire
Vandals burned down the school.
burned it down

Examples of burn down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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And two, Elizabeth burning down the dollhouse. Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2026 Crystal and his wife shared in a statement that his family’s home had burned down shortly after evacuations began. Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2026 He is also accused of threatening to burn down OpenAI's headquarters. Kate Rooney,drew Troast, CNBC, 15 Apr. 2026 The first English royal visited fewer than 100 years after the British burned down the White House in 1814. Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 15 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for burn down

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Cite this Entry

“Burn down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burn%20down. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.

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