burn down

phrasal 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

The building was burned down during the war, but was later rebuilt. —Teddy Minford, Vogue, 15 Dec. 2025

Security forces cracked down on demonstrations across 100 cities and towns, with some protesters burning down gas stations and banks. —Nasser Karimi, Arkansas Online, 14 Dec. 2025

In the dry California hills, an intentional community tries to build a pyre for one of its own, and, in the complex and mendacious aftermath, may end up sort of burning down the nation-state. —Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2025

When Columbia was about to celebrate its centennial in 2005, a historian informed the team that the brand actually started as Saloon Columbia in 1903, before burning down and restarting as Columbia Restaurant in 1905. —Karla Walsh, Southern Living, 13 Dec. 2025

Rhymes for burn down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown