What does ‘burn the candle at both ends’ mean?
To “burn the candle at both ends” means to exhaust yourself by doing too much. A very old English proverb; Brewer's records the image, and Edna St. Vincent Millay's 1920 poem popularised it in the modern sense.
Origin
- A very old English proverb; Brewer's records the image, and Edna St. Vincent Millay's 1920 poem popularised it in the modern sense.
How to use it
- Warning about overwork.
- Example: You'll burn out — you're burning the candle at both ends.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.