back burner

noun

: the condition of being out of active consideration or development
usually used in the phrase on the back burner
back-burner transitive verb

Examples of back burner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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This polarizing and critical topic took a back burner to the excitement of the NFL Draft last weekend, when the spotlight deserved to be on the players. Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026 What’s coming in, what’s going out, what’s been sitting on the back burner for too long? Glamour, 25 Apr. 2026 In order to grow the business, however, Johnson-Cope considered partnering with security firms in other states, something that threatened to put some of the company’s founding priorities on the back burner. Harvard Business Review, 15 Apr. 2026 Rodriguez was going to direct for 20th Century Studios back in 2017, but the shift to Disney probably had a hand in that getting put on the back burner. Brian Welk, IndieWire, 13 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for back burner

Word History

First Known Use

1943, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of back burner was in 1943

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Cite this Entry

“Back burner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/back%20burner. Accessed 1 May. 2026.

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