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burn one's bridges

To destroy one's path, connections, reputation, opportunities, etc.

Etymology:

  • Originally in military sense of intentionally cutting off one's own retreat to commit oneself to a course of action, later used primarily to mean “alienate former friends”.
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Even if you are dismissed from a job in the worst way, take care to not burn your bridges with unseemly comments on the way out, since you never know who you will meet again.

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Submitted on September 01, 2009

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brenne die brücken

brûler ses ponts

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to burn one's bridges

burn upburn the midnight oilbring (one's) a-gamebring one's arse to an anchorburn outbreak one's duckburn some rubberburn to a crispburn offburn the candle at both endsburn offburn upburn everything russian except the sour…Burn the Midnight Oil

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    "burn one's bridges." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/burn-ones-bridges_2664>.

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