burn down

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"burn-down" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“burn down” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To cause (a structure) to burn to nothing.

Key facts for burn down
PropertyValue
Headwordburn down
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “burn down” sits in English frequency

burn down falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

burn down is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

burn down doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is burn down, spelled B-U-R-N- -D-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cause (a structure) to burn to nothing.
  2. 2
    To burn completely, so that nothing remains.
  3. 3
    To kill (someone), especially by shooting; to attack (someone).

This word in other languages

incendiar(Español)carboniser(Français)abbrennen(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "burn down"?
"burn down" is spelled B-U-R-N- -D-O-W-N.
What does "burn down" mean?
As a verb, "burn down" means: To cause (a structure) to burn to nothing.
What language does "burn down" come from?
"burn down" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “burn down”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-U-R-N- -D-O-W-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list