Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

burn bread

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.21 in modern English

Syllables: burn bread
IPA

14

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To cause something unfortunate to happen to (someone) by mentioning it; to jinx something for (someone).

Example Sentences

"I don't mean to burn bread on the guy, but if LaT cares to press it, he could be living in a dumpster before he gets too much older."
"“Si, I'll set up the meeting. I want you plugged in with the Cubans. Just in case something was to ever happen to me.” Rico shot his brother a scornful. “Listen, I got no problem wit' none a dat shit you talking, but I ain't trying' hear dat' just in case something happen' to you bullshit … you need to stop talking dat stupid shit fo'real. You only burnin' bread on yourself.”"
"“Yo' ass gon' get fired.” “No, I'm not. Don't be burning bread on me like that.” Gray knocked on wood. “Besides, I've been working my ass off. […]”"
""[…] I was just playing, but I see you've seen it through, just like that famous lawyer who played mind games on his wife." ¶ "Yeah. Well what happened?" Randol asked. ¶ "He got caught, darling. Be careful." ¶ "Hey, don't burn bread. I'm not like that stupid lawyer. […]""

Etymology

From the idea that burning bread brings bad luck or is indicative of unfortunate things to come.

Inflected Forms

burns bread (present, singular) burning bread (participle, present) burned bread (participle, past) burned bread (past) burnt bread (participle, past) burnt bread (past)

Phrases

knock on wood

Frequently Paired Words

knock on wood

Questions

What does burn bread mean?: To cause something unfortunate to happen to (someone) by mentioning it; to jinx something for (someone).
Where does burn bread come from?: From the idea that burning bread brings bad luck or is indicative of unfortunate things to come.

How to pronounce burn bread

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “burn bread”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “burn bread”.
Repeat and practice — Say “burn bread” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.