backburner

See also: back-burner and back burner

English

Alternative forms

• back-burner
• back burner

Etymology

From back +‎ burner.

Noun

backburner (countable and uncountable, plural backburners)

1. (countable) A burner of a stove away from the cook's side.
2. (uncountable) A state of being postponed, deferred or given lower priority (from the sense that pots on backburners get less attention).

   We'll put next year's Christmas party on the backburner until we deal with the current financial crisis.

Verb

backburner (third-person singular simple present backburners, present participle backburnering, simple past and past participle backburnered)

1. (transitive, informal) To relegate to a lower priority
   • 2013, Lorna Stewart, BBC News, Love letters and kindness may improve mental health

     "What I noticed was that my sadness and loneliness got backburnered," she told the BBC.