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.
If meteoroids survive their trip to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere, they are called meteorites, NASA says. Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025 Without a boost to its altitude from a visiting spacecraft, Hubble will dip into a lower and lower orbit and eventually burn up in Earth's atmosphere by the mid-2030s. Josh Dinner, Space.com, 22 Apr. 2025 Early on, the poisons hold back the reactions, but over time the poisons burn up, allowing the remaining fuel to keep blazing away at the same rate. New Atlas, 15 Apr. 2025 To keep the astronauts safe, Dragon employs a heat shield to keep it from burning up during re-entry. Kevin Shalvey, ABC News, 18 Mar. 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 Apr. 2025.

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