English [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] Originally in military sense of intentionally cutting off one's own retreat (burning a bridge one has crossed) to commit oneself to a course of action, later used primarily to mean “alienate former friends”.
Pronunciation [ edit ] burn one's bridges third-person singular simple present burns one's bridges present participle burning one's bridges simple past and past participle burned one's bridges or burnt one's bridges
( idiomatic ) destroy one's path , connections , reputation , opportunities , etc., particularly intentionally.
Synonym: cross the Rubicon Even if you are dismissed from a job in the worst way, take care not to burn your bridges with unseemly comments on the way out, since you never know who you will meet again.
Derived terms [ edit ] Related terms [ edit ] Translations [ edit ] burn one's bridges
Arabic: حَرَقَ اَلسُّفُن ( ḥaraqa s-sufun ) , قَطَعَ اَلْجُسُور ( qaṭaʕa l-jusūr ) , قَطَعَ كُلّ عَلَاقَات ( qaṭaʕa kull ʕalāqāt )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 過河拆橋 ／ 过河拆桥 (zh) ( guò hé chāi qiáo ) ( cross the river, tear down the bridge ) , 破釜沉舟 (zh) ( pòfǔchénzhōu ) ( smash the (cooking) pots and sink the boats )
Danish: ( to burn all bridges ) brænde alle broer ( to break all bridges ) bryde alle broer ( to burn all bridges behind oneself ) brænde alle broer bag sig ( to break all bridges behind oneself ) bryde alle broer bag sig
Dutch: je schepen achter je verbranden ( literally “ burning your ships behind you ” )
Finnish: polttaa siltansa
French: faire sauter les ponts couper les ponts (fr) , brûler les ponts (fr) , brûler ses vaisseaux (fr)
German: ( burn all bridges behind oneself ) alle Brücken hinter sich abbrechen (de)
Icelandic: ( burn all bridges behind oneself ) brenna allar brýr að baki sér ( break all bridges behind oneself ) brjóta allar brýr að baki sér
Italian: bruciarsi i ponti alle spalle il dado è tratto passare il Rubicone
Japanese: 関係を絶つ ( かんけいをたつ , kankei o tatsu ) , 縁を切る ( えんをきる , en o kiru ) , 退路を断つ ( たいろをたつ , tairo o tatsu ) , 背水の陣 (ja) ( はいすいのじん , haisui no jin )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: bryte alle broer bryte alle bruer
Nynorsk: bryte alle bruer
Polish: palić za sobą mosty (pl)
Portuguese: queimar as pontes
Russian: сжига́ть (за собо́й) все мосты́ impf ( sžigátʹ (za sobój) vse mostý ) , рва́ть все свя́зи ( rvátʹ vse svjázi )
Spanish: quemar los puentes quemar las naves
Swedish: bränna sina broar riva alla broar bränna sina skepp (sv) , bränna alla broar (sv)
Uzbek: muloqotni buzmoq
See also [ edit ]