burn the midnight oil
To study late at night.
Exam time was near, and more and more pupils were burning the midnight oil.
burn to a crisp
To burn black; burn past saving or using especially as food.
While getting breakfast, Mother was called to the telephone, and when she got back, the bacon had been burned to a crisp.
burn up the road
To drive a car very fast.
In his eagerness to see his girl again, he burned up the road on his way to see her.
Speed demons burning up the road often cause accidents.
burn up
To burn completely; destroy or be destroyed by fire.
Mr. Scott was burning up old letters.
The house burned up before the firemen got there.
She didn't want anyone to see the letter, so she burned it up and threw the ashes away.
To irritate, anger, annoy.
The boy's laziness and rudeness burned up his teacher.
The breakdown of his new car burned Mr. Jones up.
It really burns me up that he borrowed my car without asking me first.
burn-out
A point of physical or emotional exhaustion.
There are so many refugees all over the world that charitable organizations as well as individuals are suffering from donor burn-out.
burnt child dreads the fire
once bitten, twice shy
A person who has suffered from doing something has learned to avoid doing it again. A proverb.
Once Mary had got lost when her mother took her downtown. But a burnt child dreads the fire, so now Mary stays close to her mother when they are downtown.
ears burn
make one's ears burn
To feel embarrassment or shame at hearing others talk about you.
Joan overheard the girls criticizing her and it made her ears burn.
Joe's ears burned when he heard his classmates praising him to each other.
fiddle while Rome burns
Зря терять время по пустякам в то время, когда угрожают серьезные проблемы.
The lobbyists don't seem to be doing anything to stop this tax bill. They're fiddling while Rome burns.
Лоббисты, кажется, не делают ничего, чтобы избежать принятия законов об увеличении налога. Это как бездействие на пожаре!