burn the candle at both ends
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Calque of French brûler la chandelle par les deux bouts. Popularized through a poem of Edna St. Vincent Millay.[1]
Verb
burn the candle at both ends (third-person singular simple present burns the candle at both ends, present participle burning the candle at both ends, simple past and past participle burned the candle at both ends or burnt the candle at both ends)
- (idiomatic) To work hard night and day.
- 1911, Edna Ferber, chapter 8, in Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed:
- Von Gerhard's face was unsmiling. “So,” he said, slowly. “You burn the candle at both ends. All day you write, is it not so? And at night you come home to write still more? Ach, Kindchen!—Na, we shall change all that. […]
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- (idiomatic) To sleep late and wake up early; not well-rested.
- 2012, John Mulaney, John Mulaney: New in Town:
- Get some rest, tall child! You can't keep burning the candle at both ends!
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- To waste something in two directions at once.
Translations
work hard night and day
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Translations to be checked
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References
- Edna St. Vincent Millay (1921), “First Fig”, in A Few Figs from Thistles: “My candle burns at both ends; / It will not last the night;”
Further reading
- “burn the candle at both ends”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- Gary Martin (1997–), “Burn the candle at both ends”, in The Phrase Finder.
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