Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

backburner

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.05 in modern English

Syllables: back-burn-er
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Alternative form of back burner.

Countable; Uncountable

verb

To relegate to a lower priority.

Informal; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"There had been plans to extend electrification from Harrow to Rickmansworth. But when the First World War broke out in 1914, this and a new branch to Watford were placed on the backburner, along with further housing development."
""What I noticed was that my sadness and loneliness got backburnered," she told the BBC."

Etymology

From back + burner.

Usage

Inflected Forms

backburners (plural) backburners (present, singular) backburnering (participle, present) backburnered (participle, past) backburnered (past)

Questions

What does backburner mean?: Alternative form of back burner.
Where does backburner come from?: From back + burner.

How to pronounce backburner

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “backburner”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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