Burn-at-the-stake
Execute someone by tying to a stake and burning; also, punish severely. This expression refers to a method used in the Middle Ages for putting heretics to death, but now it is used as a hyperbolic metaphor for harsh punishment, as in She was sure she’d be burned at the stake for losing the contract. In fact, the stake can be used loosely for any extreme punishment. William Makepeace Thackeray so used it in Henry Esmond (1852): “’I know I would go to the stake for you,’ said Harry.”
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- Burn-bag
a special bag into which discarded secret or sensitive documents are placed for burning.
- Burn-center
a specialized medical facility that provides comprehensive care for patients with burn injuries.
- Finger
any of the terminal members of the hand, especially one other than the thumb. a part of a glove made to receive a finger. the breadth of a finger as a unit of measurement; digit. the length of a finger: approximately 4½ inches (11 cm). Slang. an informer or spy. something like a finger in […]
- Burn-in
to undergo rapid combustion or consume fuel in such a way as to give off heat, gases, and, usually, light; be on fire: The fire burned in the grate. (of a fireplace, furnace, etc.) to contain a fire. to feel heat or a physiologically similar sensation; feel pain from or as if from a fire: […]
- Burn-in-effigy
see: in effigy