Listening exercises with “Burn out”
If a fire ‘burns out’ then it stops burning because it has run out of fuel. e.g. The fire is going to burn out if we don’t add some more wood.
Burn out has a metaphorical meaning, which is used to say that someone is no longer able to work (or too exhausted to work effectively) because they have been working too much. The idea is that, like a fire which has died, they have used up all their resources. e.g. After 6 months of working 16 hour days, he completely burned out and had to take a long break.
This phrasal verb can be used as a noun to describe the condition of being exhausted from overwork: burn-out or burnout. e.g. It is very common for young entrepreneurs to suffer from burnout during the early years of their business.
Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?
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