Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

burn one's boats

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.90 in modern English

Syllables
burn one's boats
IPA
17
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
1
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To cut oneself off from all chance of retreat; to stake everything on success.

Etymology

* Perhaps in reference to Tariq Ibn Ziyad, who gave the order to burn his own ships when he landed in Gibraltar, beginning the Islamic conquest of Spain in 711. * Perhaps in reference to Hernán Cortés, who gave the order to destroy his own ships (in reality, by sinking them) when he landed in Veracruz to begin his conquest in 1519.

Inflected Forms

burns one's boats (present, singular) burning one's boats (participle, present) burned one's boats (participle, past) burned one's boats (past) burnt one's boats (participle, past) burnt one's boats (past)

Phrases

burn one's bridges damn the torpedoes go for broke

Frequently Paired Words

burn one's bridges damn the torpedoes go for broke

Questions

What does burn one's boats mean?
To cut oneself off from all chance of retreat; to stake everything on success.
Where does burn one's boats come from?
* Perhaps in reference to Tariq Ibn Ziyad, who gave the order to burn his own ships when he landed in Gibraltar, beginning the Islamic conquest of Spain in 711. * Perhaps in reference to Hernán Cortés, who gave the order to destroy his own ships (in reality, by sinking them) when he landed in Veracruz to begin his conquest in 1519.

How to pronounce burn one's boats

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