Meaning & use
burn bridges
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Meaning
phraseidiomfigurative
To do something that permanently damages a relationship or situation, so that going back to it or asking for help from it later becomes impossible.
Grammar: Works like a verb phrase with no direct object: she burned bridges; the person affected can follow with with.
Patterns
- burn bridges with someone
- burn your bridges
- not burn bridges
He shouted at his boss and quit, and now he regrets burning bridges.
Try not to burn bridges when you leave a job, because you may need a reference later.
By lying to her old friends, she burned bridges she could never rebuild.
Word forms
| third person singular | burns bridges |
|---|---|
| past tense | burned bridges |
| past participle | burned bridges |
| -ing form | burning bridges |
Common combinations
- burn bridges with a colleague
- He burned bridges with several colleagues by taking credit for their work.
- afraid of burning bridges
- She stayed in touch with her old team because she was afraid of burning bridges.
- burn all your bridges
- Before you burn all your bridges, think about whether you might want to return.
- avoid burning bridges
- It is wise to avoid burning bridges when you move abroad.
- burned bridges behind him
- He left the town and burned bridges behind him.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cut ties
- Cut ties describes deliberately ending a relationship, while burn bridges stresses that the damage makes any return impossible.
- fall out with
- Fall out with is a milder, ordinary phrase for an argument, and it does not suggest that the break is permanent.
- alienate
- Alienate is more formal and needs a direct object, as in alienate your supporters, whereas burn bridges is a looser idiom.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: burn bridges or build bridges?
burn bridges vs build bridges
Build bridges means the opposite: to create friendly links between people or groups who disagree.
Practice
After the angry email he sent to his whole department, Marco knew he had ___ and could not ask for his job back.
Choose one answer.
Burned bridges means he permanently damaged his relationships. Built bridges would mean making friendly connections, which the situation contradicts.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “burn bridges”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.