Where does the phrase 'barn burner' come from?

Merriam-Webster ^ | February 26, 2026 | Staff

[Red Badger]

From politics to 'a very exciting event' As March Madness heats up we are more than likely going to encounter a peculiar word that is much beloved by sports writers and political pundits alike: barn burner.

barn burner The 'Barnburners' were one of two competing factions in the New York State Democratic Party in the middle of the 19th century. The name was “in allusion to the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by burning his barns which they infested.”

In the modern parlance a barn burner is defined as "a very exciting game, event, etc." The earliest citation in our files for this use is from 1934:

A real “barn-burner” was the following hand, which provided plenty of excitement at the evening session. —Omaha World-Herald, 13 May, 1934

It should be noted that the barn burner here is a game of bridge, which perhaps gives fodder to those of us who think that the 1930s were a simpler time, and that our ancestors found certain things more exciting than we do today. Today barn burner is often used to describe a sporting event or some other contest, such as a political race, which occasions a good deal of excitement.

But before this 20th century use, barn burner had a very specific meaning in US politics. The Barnburners were one of two competing factions in the New York State Democratic Party in the middle of the 19th century. John Russell Bartlett, in his 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms, provided a lengthy quote from the New York Tribune, which explained that the name was “in allusion to the story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by burning his barns which they infested.” In this case, the Barnburners were so determined to get rid of systemic abuses that they were willing to destroy the system itself.

The Barnburners were the more radical of the two political groups; the more conservative party was referred to as the Hunkers (possibly on the grounds that they were interested in a hunk of the political spoils, or because they hankered after elective office).

The Governor’s favorites for Speaker, Printers, Bank Directors, all have been floored by the “Barn Burners,” as the Radicals are yclept in our State. —New York Tribune, 20 January 1842

It has long been thought that the New York Barnburners were the originators of that term (aside from the occasional person who literally burned down a barn), but recent findings have indicated that the term began its life describing radicals in a neighboring state, Pennsylvania, slightly earlier.

We do not know to what particular class the new epithet of “Barn burners” is intended to be applied, but it strikes us as highly characteristic of those who trample upon the rights of citizens and the laws of the land. —Public Ledger [Philadelphia, PA], 17 April 1840

It matters little where exactly the word began being used. What is germane is that we have a word which began its life as a term for a radical faction of politicians and then segued to being a descriptor of some exciting event. Go team.

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TOPICS: Books/Literature; Education; History; Word For The Day
KEYWORDS:

[Red Badger]

I always thought that it was because a burning barn would attract a huge crowd................

[Red Badger]

WORD FOR THE DAY PING LIST!.....................

[Ciaphas Cain]

I use "barn burner" sometimes.

I also employ "toad strangler". A bit more obscure but certainly gets the point across.

[God luvs America]

that’s easy- it comes from none other than Keith Jackson....

Whoooooa Nellie!!!!

[Red Badger]

When I was a child, my grandfather’s barn burned down and attracted a crowd to watch, so that’s how I got the idea!............

[BenLurkin]

https://www.lerctr.org/~transit/healy/ballburner.wav

[Harpotoo]

Probably bootleggers tearing a## out of the barn to avoid revenuers:-}

[frank ballenger]

Used to like hearing Jackson say if the player sees any daylight ahead of him in a seam opened up it will be Katy bar the door.

[Red Badger]

LOL!..................

[Red Badger]

“Gator Gusher”.......................

[Alas Babylon!]

The Barnburners were the more radical of the two political groups; the more conservative party was referred to as the Hunkers (possibly on the grounds that they were interested in a hunk of the political spoils, or because they hankered after elective office).

hunker down

phrasal verb

--Hunkered down; hunkering down; hunkers down
1. To lower the body to the ground by bending the legs
2. To stay in a place for a period of time

The meaning of HUNKER is crouch, squat —usually used with down.

[Track9]

I like the idea of burning rats. So that’s good

[frank ballenger]

In the 1970s Gene Shalit on the Today Show reviewed a book about barns and said other than a fire on a ship at sea, a fire in a barn was a source of intense action by a whole town because of how much depended upon the farm community’s barns.
Same with all the people who united together to donate labor for raising a new barn to be built.

[OldHarbor]

Barns ?

Can We Move This 100-Year-Old Barn?

Interesting

[qam1]

Similar note the saying “He Brought the Farm” when someone dies.

During WWII if you died in combat, your family got a $10,000 check, and hence could pay off their mortgage and thus “Buy the Farm”

[Red Badger]

They just run out and go into other peoples’ barns!............

[Libloather]

Why Are Barns Painted Red?

https://www.farmersalmanac.com/barns-painted-red

[PeterPrinciple]

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/katy-bar-the-door.html

The expression ‘Katy, bar the door’ means take precautions; there’s trouble ahead. The expresssion is also spelled as ‘Katie bar the door’ and the earliest example of the phrase in print spells it that way.

......

The event was commemorated in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poem The King’s Tragedy, 1881. The full poem is 173 stanzas, but this selection shows the possible links with Katy bar the door:

Then the Queen cried, “Catherine, keep the door,
And I to this will suffice!”
At her word I rose all dazed to my feet,
And my heart was fire and ice.
…
Like iron felt my arm, as through
The staple I made it pass:-
Alack! it was flesh and bone - no more! 570
’Twas Catherine Douglas sprang to the door,
But I fell back Kate Barlass.

Which, if either, of the above explanations is correct is uncertain. The Kate Barlass story appears to have the stronger claim.

[Track9]

Maybe that’s why they don’t like walls.

[z3n]

I like the idea of burning rats. So that’s good

~~~

Burning a barn is a steep price to burn some rats. I guess the the dutch cats were lazy