barn burner

noun

: one that arouses much interest or excitement
the game should be a real barn burner

Examples of barn burner in a Sentence

The game should be a real barn burner.
Recent Examples on the Web The underlying message was clear: Whittingham felt Utah was the better team in last year’s 29-26 barn burner of a loss in Gainesville. Kevin Reynolds, The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 Aug. 2023 Eyes on 2024: Democrats are all in for Allred The Texas Senate race is already shaping up to be a barn burner — Democratic Rep. Colin Allred’s initial fundraising haul is an early sign that the Lone Star State will once again host an expensive Senate race. Ben Kamisar, NBC News, 5 May 2023 This is a pull-out-all-the-stops over-the-top barn burner of a sandwich that will knock anyone's socks off. Christopher Michel, Country Living, 17 May 2023 The Texas Senate race is already shaping up to be a barn burner — Democratic Rep. Colin Allred’s initial fundraising haul is an early sign that the Lone Star State will once again host an expensive Senate race. Ben Kamisar, NBC News, 5 May 2023 See here: Friday’s jobs report was a barn burner. Allison Morrow, CNN, 6 Feb. 2023 The topic was a barn burner. Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2022 Paul Gronke, a political science professor and director of the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College, said Oregon voters' enthusiasm as expressed by early turnout is particularly impressive because there aren’t any barn burner statewide races this year. oregonlive, 31 Oct. 2020 As political speeches go, Representative Liz Cheney’s address to a packed gym here on Tuesday evening was hardly a barn burner. Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 1 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barn burner.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of barn burner was in 1951

Dictionary Entries Near barn burner

Cite this Entry

“Barn burner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barn%20burner. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.

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