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• burger
  burger

  noun

  a hamburger.
• Burger
  Burger

  noun

  Warren Earl, 1907–1995, U.S. jurist: chief justice of the U.S. 1969–86.
• -burger
  -burger

  a combining form extracted from hamburger, occurring in compounds the initial element of which denotes a special garnish for a hamburger or a substitute ingredient for the meat patty.
• Bürger
  Bürger

  noun

  Gottfried August (ˈɡɔtfriːt ˈauɡʊst). 1747–94, German lyric poet, noted particularly for his ballad Lenore (1773)

burger

¹ American  

[bur-ger] / ˈbɜr gər /

noun

• burgers
  plural

1. a hamburger.

2. a food patty, or patty on a bun, containing ingredients other than beef.

   veggie or turkey burgers.

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Burger ² American  

[bur-ger] / ˈbɜr gər /

noun

1. Warren Earl, 1907–1995, U.S. jurist: chief justice of the U.S. 1969–86.

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-burger ³ American  

1. a combining form extracted from hamburger, occurring in compounds the initial element of which denotes a special garnish for a hamburger or a substitute ingredient for the meat patty.

   baconburger; cheeseburger; fishburger.

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burger ¹ British  

/ ˈbɜːɡə /

noun

1. informal

   1. short for hamburger

   2. ( in combination )

      a cheeseburger

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Bürger ² British  

/ ˈbyrɡər /

noun

1. Gottfried August (ˈɡɔtfriːt ˈauɡʊst). 1747–94, German lyric poet, noted particularly for his ballad Lenore (1773)

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Usage

What does -burger mean? The combining form -burger is used like a suffix indicating a kind of hamburger or other patty in a sandwich bun. The form -burger comes from the end of the word hamburger, meaning "a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground beef in a roll or bun." The word hamburger itself comes from a shortening of a dish named Hamburger steak, from the German city of Hamburg.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• burgers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of burger

1935–40, extracted from hamburger by false analysis as ham ¹ + burger

Explanation

A grilled beef patty on a bun is called a burger. Lunch at a fast food restaurant often consists of a burger and fries. You can use the word burger as a casual shorthand for hamburger, which is ground or minced beef that's fried and served on a bun. A burger can also be made of other ingredients, like turkey or tofu or lamb. In fact, if you shape food into a patty, grill it, and put it on a roll or bun, you can call it a burger. The word was first used in 1939, from hamburger.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

burger Burger -burger Bürger burgers

New options are intended to help the company increase its share in the global beverage and chicken markets by 1.5 percentage points by 2030, while maintaining its position as the biggest fast-food burger seller.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

I like to put the fries on the burger.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

Byron offers a free burger with a £5 minimum spend, while Wagamama offers free gyoza when you spend £12 and have earned at least one stamp on your loyalty card in the last six months.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

For a struggling burger restaurant, this was less an offer than a small miracle.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

He took a single bite of each and lined them up on the wrinkled burger wrapper.

From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn

Carl’s Jr. is targeting Burger King with a “Stealing the Crown” promotion offering a free burger to consumers who submit a rival’s receipt or a paper crown.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

In-N-Out Burger this week announced several menu changes in line with a recent push to reduce use of artificial dyes and processed ingredients.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Waldorf Restaurant Group operates franchise locations of Burger King and El Pollo Loco, according to public records.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Some fast-food chains offer a free birthday meal or snack - Burger King members can claim a free Whopper or Plant-Based Whopper, while Chopstix offers a free small noodle box.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Burger, who was better versed in the political intricacies of the Nazi regime than the others, explained the infighting among the organizations for power and dominance.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

The suffix -burger is loaned from hamburger to form cheeseburger or veggie burger - even though a hamburger refers to its origins in Hamburg, Germany, not to a burger made from ham.

From BBC ● May 11, 2013

Wordsworth adds that he esteems the genius of Dr. Percy in this kind of writing superior to that of any other modern writer; and that even Bürger had not Percy's fine sensibility.

From A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century by Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers

Two such, I remember; one a grand review of the Bürger Militär; the other the public confirmation of the apprentices and others, and the conscription of the youth of the city. 

From A Tramp's Wallet stored by an English goldsmith during his wanderings in Germany and France by William Duthie

In 1796 he made his first adventure as an author by publishing translations of "Lenoré," and "The Wild Huntsman" of Bürger.

From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume I. The Songs of Scotland of the past half century by Charles Rogers

German minor poetry, now quite forgotten, attracted him almost as much as the great pages of Schiller, Bürger, and Goethe.

From After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819 by Major W. E Frye

Bürger, who called Vermeer the Sphinx among artists, has generously attributed to him 76 pictures.

From Ivory Apes and Peacocks by James Huneker

McDonald’s on Wednesday also said it would roll out bigger burgers, adding that it was exploring fresh Quarter Pounders and hot-off-the-grill preparation in more areas.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

In 1995, eight years after the movie’s European premiere, Pruett and her husband, Harold, stopped for burgers at what was then called the Sidewinder Cafe in Newberry Springs, 20 miles east of Barstow.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Technology is on pace to eliminate many remaining starter jobs like flipping burgers and running checkouts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

Researchers examined a wide range of products commonly available to UK shoppers, including burgers, vegetarian chicken pieces, vegan sausages, and oat, almond and soy-based milks.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

“But make sure you’re back in time for dinner. Your dad is planning to grill some burgers tonight.”

From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon