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

In January, Jackson confirmed that his home in L.A.’s Topanga neighborhood burned down in the fires, which destroyed thousands of structures and left many residents displaced. —Bailey Richards, People.com, 27 Mar. 2025

The flame-spewing ‘Dragon Drone’ transformed the thermite grenade from a niche munition only suitable for demolition to a weapon capable of burning down hundreds of meters of tree line. —David Hambling, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025

In some cases, the numbers ring to landlines that burned down. —Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2025

The lawyer, played by Kayla Wallace, listens with the sorrowful look of a child who has burned down a Ronald McDonald house with her terminally ill brother inside. —Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2025

Rhymes for burn down

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