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burning

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are your ears burning?

A rhetorical question addressed to someone who was not present for a conversation about which he or she was the subject. Oh, Marty! We were just talking about your new play. Are your ears burning?

See also: ear

(one's) ears are burning

Said by or of someone who did not witness people talking about him or her, intuiting that this is the case. Are you two talking about me? My ears are burning.

See also: burning, ear

burning question

 and the burning question

Fig. a question whose answer is of great interest to everyone; a question that needs very much to be answered, as a fire needs to be extinguished. There's a burning question that needs to be answered: Why did you leave your wife of only one month?

See also: burning, question

keep the home fires burning

Fig. to keep things going at one's home or other central location. (From a World War I song.) My uncle kept the home fires burning when my sister and I went to school. The manager stays at the office and keeps the home fires burning while I'm out selling our products.

See also: burning, fire, home, keep

burning the midnight oil

working very long hours, often into the night What doctors do know is that burning the midnight oil is bad for your health.

Etymology: from the use of oil to provide light before the invention of electricity

See also: burning, midnight, oil

have something burning a hole in your pocket

  (humorous)

if someone has money burning a hole in their pocket, they want to spend it as soon as possible I had a fifty dollar bill that was burning a hole in my pocket, so I figured I'd go out and have a really good time.

See also: burning, have, hole, pocket

your ears must be burning

something that you say to someone who is being talked about All that talk about William - his ears must have been burning.

See box ears, can't believe ears, pin back ears, prick ears up, be up to ears in

See also: burning, ear, must

keep the home fires burning

to keep your home pleasant and in good order while people who usually live with you are away, especially at war They relied on their wives and sweethearts to keep the home fires burning when they marched off to war.

See also: burning, fire, home, keep

burning question

An urgent or crucial issue under heated discussion. For example, Real estate taxes are always a burning question for the town leaders. This term has exact equivalents in French ( question brûlante) and German ( brennende Frage). [Mid-1800s]

See also: burning, question

ears are burning, one's

Be disconcerted by what one hears, especially when one is being talked about. For example, Were your ears burning? Jim was telling us about your exploits. Similarly, make one's ears burn means "to embarrass," as in Mom's stories about us as babies make my ears burn. These expressions allude to one's ears turning red from blushing.

See also: ear