burnt

• burned
• brent (obsolete)

Inherited from Middle English brent, brynt; by surface analysis, burn +‎ t.

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /bɜːnt/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /bɝnt/
• (Northumbria) IPA^(key): /bɔːnt/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nt

burnt

1. (chiefly Commonwealth, UK) simple past and past participle of burn

   I burnt the toast.

   The house burnt down.

burnt (comparative more burnt, superlative most burnt)

1. Damaged or injured by fire or heat.
   • 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:

     The burnt and bleeding man staggered to his feet, dazed and unbelieving, and asked the startled townspeople who came running whether his fireman and guard were safe. He was kept away from the smouldering crater where his engine had been, and taken to hospital.

2. (of food) Carbonised.

   The toast was too burnt to eat.

3. (of a person) Having a sunburn.
4. (of a colour) Being darker than standard, especially browner.

• The form burnt as the simple past and past participle of the verb is standard in British, Australian, and other Commonwealth dialects, whereas North American English has largely regularized the verb to burned.
• Despite this regional split in the verb, the use of burnt as an attributive adjective is widespread globally. In North American English, this creates a morphological division of labor where the older irregular form is preserved specifically in adjectival phrases (e.g., burnt sienna, burnt toast) even though the verbal paradigm has regularized.

burnt (uncountable)

1. (informal) Char.
   • 2003 December 1, Darrell, “Toilet Bowl Stains”, in alt.home.repair‎^[1] (Usenet):

     You might also try 5star PBX organic cleaner. This stuff is amazing. Found at your local beer and wine brewers supply store, this stuff will clean the "burnt" off the bottom of your pans.

• Brunt, brunt