1. State of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress, often work-related
   "The nurse experienced severe burnout after months of overtime during the pandemic"
    
2. Complete combustion or exhaustion of a fuel or energy source
   "The rocket's burnout occurred at the edge of the atmosphere"
    
3. (electrical) failure of a component due to excessive heat or current
   "Frequent power surges led to burnout of several circuit breakers"
    
4. (automotive) practice of spinning a vehicle's wheels to cause the tires to heat up and smoke
   "The crowd cheered as the dragster performed a burnout before the race"
    
5. (forestry) controlled fire set to consume fuel in the path of a wildfire
   "Firefighters used a burnout to create a firebreak"
    
6. [US, informal] A drug user who has become debilitated or dysfunctional from excessive drug use
   "The rehab centre specialized in treating burnouts from the local party scene"

1. Melt, break, or become otherwise unusable
   "The lightbulbs burned out";
   - blow out, blow
    
2. Become exhausted, especially from overwork
   "Many healthcare workers burned out during the pandemic"

Derived forms: burned out, burns out, burning out, burnouts

Type of: break, break down, conk out [informal], die, fail, give out, give up the ghost [informal], give way, go, go bad, pack up [Brit, informal]

Encyclopedia: Burnout