burke
verb (used with object)
to murder, as by suffocation, so as to leave no or few marks of violence.
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burke
1 American
[burk]
/ bɜrk /
verb (used with object)
burked,
burking
-
to murder, as by suffocation, so as to leave no or few marks of violence.
-
to suppress or get rid of by some indirect maneuver.
Burke
2
American
[burk]
/ bɜrk /
noun
-
Billie Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke, 1886–1970, U.S. actress.
-
Edmund, 1729–97, Irish statesman, orator, and writer.
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Kenneth Duva 1897–1993, U.S. literary critic.
Burke
1
British
/ bɜːk /
noun
-
Edmund . 1729–97, British Whig statesman, conservative political theorist, and orator, born in Ireland: defended parliamentary government and campaigned for a more liberal treatment of the American colonies; denounced the French Revolution
-
Robert O'Hara . 1820–61, Irish explorer, who led the first expedition (1860–61) across Australia from south to north. He was accompanied by W. J. Wills, George Grey, and John King; King alone survived the return journey
-
William . 1792–1829, Irish murderer and body snatcher; associate of William Hare
burke
2
British
/ bɜːk /
verb
-
to murder in such a way as to leave no marks on the body, usually by suffocation
-
to get rid of, silence, or suppress
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of burke
After W. Burke, hanged in 1829 in Edinburgh for murders of this kind
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I'm no' gaun to burke ye the nicht; but I canna sleep; I'm sair misdoubtful o' the thing.
From Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet An Autobiography by Thomas Hughes
There is no need for me to burke the words.
From The Record of Nicholas Freydon An Autobiography by A. J. (Alec John) Dawson
There must be no question of trying to shirk or burke it.
From My Friend Prospero by Henry Harland
Look here—it's no use trying to burke facts.
From Scarhaven Keep by J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher
You cannot, beyond a certain limit of time, burke reality.
From The Free Press by Hilaire Belloc
“It’s an epic fantasy. It has real danger. It’s got like real emotional stakes and consequences,” David Burke, an executive producer on “Wildwood,” said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
That result convinced the studio that its films “don’t simply age out with their original audience,” Burke said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
Mr. Grant, the founder and editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, is the author of “Friends Until the End: Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox in the Age of Revolution.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Today’s house hunters are making calculations similar to the ones Burke and Stanley made in 2023.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
“And Glenn Burke smacked Dusty’s right hand with his own right hand.”
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
They burked the challenge then; their half measures of diplomatic ostracism only strengthened Franco with his own people.
From Time Magazine Archive
Every woman who dares to speak on this great burked subject seems to have "a remedy" ready to her hand.
From The Truth About Woman by C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine) Hartley
The Mahmal was burked this year, and the fair at Tantah forbidden.
From Letters from Egypt by Janet Ross
Here, then, are two parallels to Fisher's ghost, and very hard on psychical science it is that ghostly evidence should be deliberately burked through the prejudices of lawyers.
From The Valet's tragedy, and other studies by Andrew Lang
We feel a devout conviction that Miss Carolina Wilhelmina Amelia Skeggs would have burked Goldsmith!
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 343, May 1844 by Various
Macdonald's motion provoked charges of burking free discussion, and counter-charges of obstruction, want of patriotism and inclinations towards annexation.
From George Brown by John Lewis
I encounter a Vagualame disguised, who runs as if all the devils of hell were after him ... who makes off with extraordinary agility, whose presence of mind in burking pursuit is marvellous!...
From A Nest of Spies by Marcel Allain
Any tax, therefore, levied on those who have neither land nor money is a crying injustice, except, indeed," he added with bitter irony, "we admit of a small pole-tax to keep down burking.
From Dilemmas of Pride, (Vol 1 of 3) by Margracia Loudon
But there is an Ulster difficulty, and no amount of burking it will solve it.
From The Insurrection in Dublin by James Stephens
For there is no burking the truth that in many respects the American woman carries about her a peculiar charm ungranted as yet to her European sisters.
From Post-Prandial Philosophy by Grant Allen
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