barn-burning

adjective

barn-burn·​ing

chiefly US, informal

: very energetic and impassioned

a barn-burning orator

barn-burning performances

: prolonged and exciting

… he thought the market would begin a barn-burning rally as the leading world economies showed signs of life.

—Robert Hurtado, New York Times, 18 June 1993

Canada sneaked past the United States 69–62 in a barn-burning semi-final that went to double overtime …

—Will Swanton, The Age (Melbourne, Australia), 16 Sept. 2008

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

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