A burner of a stove away from the cook's side.(noun)
A state of being postponed, deferred or given lower priority (from the sense that pots on backburners get less attention).(noun)
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Use "backburner" in a sentence
"Ticking over on the backburner is Riven Kingdom, which I will get back to on Tuesday, provided I have in fact finished proofing the galleys by Monday night."
"The later comment "Sometimes a student can get frustrated over a teacher's crits and question their knowledge and expertise -- if people knew what teachers were capable of early on, this line of thinking would be in the backburner" is fine - but what evidence does a portfolio show?"
"Another recommendation of note that has been put on the backburner is the development of a deep and liquid corporate debt market."