phrasal verb (idiom) · neutral
put on the back burner
UK/pʊt ɒn ðə bæk ˈbɜː(r)nə(r)/US/pʊt ɑn ðə bæk ˈbɜrnər/PUT ON THE BACK BUR·NER
to delay dealing with something because other things are more urgent or important
Examples
“Due to budget cuts, the renovation plans were put on the back burner.”
“I'll have to put my holiday plans on the back burner until exams are over.”
“Many environmental projects get put on the back burner during economic crises.”
Band 8 sentence
“Many promising policy proposals were unfortunately put on the back burner while the government dealt with the immediate crisis.”
Collocations
- put sth on the back burner
- be put on the back burner
Word family
Common mistakes
We put the project in the back burner.→We put the project on the back burner.
They put it on the front burner.→They put it on the back burner.
Say it for a higher band
5postpone→6defer→7+put on the back burner
Synonyms
postpone
defer
Easily confused
postpone
“The meeting was postponed until next week.”
Related words
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In put …
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