burn out phrasal verb ( see also ↑ burn )
1 . if a fire burns out or burns itself out, it stops burning because there is no coal, wood etc left:
He left the fire to burn itself out.
2 . be burnt out if a building or vehicle is burnt out, the inside of it is destroyed by fire:
The hotel was completely burnt out. Only the walls remained.
We passed several burnt out cars.
3 . burn something ↔ out to remove something by burning it:
The cancer cells are burnt out using a laser beam.
4 . to work so hard over a period of time that you become unable to continue working because you are tired, ill, or unable to think of any new ideas:
It’s a high-pressure job and you could burn out young.
be/get burnt out
He was almost burnt out by the time he was 21.
burn yourself out
She’s in danger of burning herself out.
⇨ ↑ burnout (1)
5 . if an engine or electric wire burns out or is burnt out, it stops working because it has been damaged by getting too hot:
The plugs are wired so that if one burns out, the others will still start the engine.
burn something ↔ out
I think you’ve burnt out one of the gaskets.
6 . if a ↑ rocket or ↑ jet burns out, it stops working because all its ↑ fuel has been used ⇨ ↑ burnout (2)