Meaning & use

back burner

noun·Academic

A state of low priority in which a plan, task, or project is temporarily set aside.

See it in a sentence

With the merger underway, the marketing redesign was put on the back burner.

She back-burnered her novel while focusing on finishing her degree.

A note on using this word

Back burner most commonly appears in the phrase 'put something on the back burner,' though it can also work as an informal verb.

Words with a similar meaning

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