burn up

burn up idiom
  1. burn someone up. Make angry or very irritated, as in Arthur was really burned up at his son for denting the new car, or Those careless drivers just burn me up. [Colloquial; c. 1920]
  2. Travel very fast, as in This car will burn up the road. [1940s]
  3. Easily surpass or outdo, as in They'll burn up the other teams. [Slang; late 1970s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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