burn

/bɝn/noun, verb

burn is spelled B-U-R-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, burn means “A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of burn is burns.

How many letters and syllables are in burn?

Letters	4: B-U-R-N
Syllables	1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	34 times per million words; the 2,831st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Pairs people search	burn vs burnt
Sounds like	Bern
Rhymes with	turn return learn concern more

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is burn?

Burn appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st most frequent word form in the list.

burn0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce burn?

UK /bɜːn/
/bɔːn/
US /bɝn/

Burn has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-burn.wav, En-us-burn.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with burn

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

burn vs burnt0 B

Sounds like: Bern (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: born, burnt.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with burn?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as burn from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹn/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of burn

burns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
born
burning participle, present
burned participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
burnt participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does burn mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

1
A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals.
She had second-degree burns from falling in the bonfire.
2
A mark left behind by a burn; a scorch or scar caused by a burn.
Cut the cigarette burn out from the fabric.
3
An abrasion resembling a burn.
carpet burn, rope burn, rug burn, turf burn
4
A disease in vegetables, which causes discoloration that looks like a burn.
5
A sensation resembling an injury from heat or an analogous force; the quality or nature of a burning sensation caused by capsaicin.
I dread the burn of the disinfectant where it enters an open wound.
6
A physical sensation in the muscles following strenuous exercise, caused by a build-up of lactic acid.
One and, two and, keep moving; feel the burn in your thighs!
7
Anger, especially slowly mounting in intensity.
a slow burn
8
slangAn intense non-physical sting, as left by shame or an effective insult.
9
ScotlandA large stream.

verb

1
To be consumed by fire or in flames.
He watched the house burn.
2
To contain a fire or coals.
The wood stove was burning, giving off plenty of heat.
3
To become overheated to the point of being unusable; to become scorched.
The grill was too hot and the steak burned.
4
To be executed by an electric chair.
In this state, he could burn for his crimes.
5
To be hot, e.g. due to embarrassment.
The child’s forehead was burning with fever. Her cheeks burned with shame.
6
To approach near to a concealed object which is sought, especially in certain games; to be so near as to be figuratively burnt by a hidden target.
You’re cold… warm… hot… you’re burning!
7
USTo desire or ache for (something); to be intense, as a desire.
I burn for her touch.
8
To be converted to another element in a nuclear fusion reaction, especially in a star; to undergo nuclear fusion or nuclear fission.