burn rubber

verb

To accelerate so rapidly from standstill that it leaves a mark of burnt rubber on the road from the tire.

Similar
lay rubberpeel rubber
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Meanings

verbburn rubber (third-person singular simple present burns rubber, present participle burning rubber, simple past and past participle burned rubber or burnt rubber)

present singular third person burns rubber · participle present burning rubber · participle past burned rubber · past burned rubber · participle past burnt rubber · past burnt rubber

  1. idiomaticinformalintransitiveautomotiveTo accelerate so rapidly from standstill that it leaves a mark of burnt rubber on the road from the tire.

    “We’re rammed to the gills with foreigners doing mad shit. You can’t do this to Irish people. I’m getting out of this country, I’m burning rubber. It’s not safe to walk around here.”

    2023 November 24, Rory Carroll, “‘Government is not listening’: anger over immigration spills into riot on Dublin’s streets”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

    Synonyms: lay rubber, peel rubber

  2. idiomaticintransitiveslangTo move quickly; to go or leave quickly.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo accelerate so rapidly from standstill that it leaves a mark of burnt rubber on the road from the tire.

Similar
lay rubberpeel rubber
Also see
lay rubberpeel rubber

Translations

Finnish polttaa kumia
  • polttaa kumiato accelerate rapidly
Polish palić gumę
  • palić gumęto accelerate rapidly
Romanian rupe asfaltul
  • rupe asfaltulto accelerate rapidly
Spanish quemar llanta
  • quemar llantato accelerate rapidly
Swedish börna
  • börnato accelerate rapidly
Cite this entry
APA

burn rubber. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burn%20rubber

MLA

“burn rubber.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burn%20rubber. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “burn rubber,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burn%20rubber.

Source: burn rubber on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.