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

Even though the Eaton Canyon Nature Center burned down, the oaks and sycamores around it appear to have survived, some only singed from the fire. —Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2025

Russian commentators have used the tragedy to spread anti-Ukrainian misinformation, with false reports that the homes of several Ukrainian generals had burnt down in California, as reported by NPR. —Kristen Waggoner, Newsweek, 21 Jan. 2025

The cork oak where Phillip wanted his ashes spread had burned down in the last fire. —Eli Saslow, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025

When houses are burned down and plumbing fixtures are lost, there is effectively a loss in the pressure in water lines, Thomas Young, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of California, Davis, told ABC News. —Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 17 Jan. 2025