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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

"I can have a chicken burger and it's really healthy because of the way I cooked it."

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

I like to put the fries on the burger.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

The No. 2 U.S. burger chain by sales has charged its corporate chef with upgrading the sauces, buns and packaging for its food.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

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

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

Grady froze, crouched over his burger with his pinkies extended and lips spread wide.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

In-N-Out Burger recently added four California locations to its “opening soon” list: three in Southern California and one in the Central Valley, according to the company’s website.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

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

Habit Burger & Grill reported $706 million in sales last year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

Plus, Nepal’s big bet on hydropower, Burger King’s bold revamp, and the race for the next big weight-loss drug.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

Burger reminded him that they hadn't done anything against the United States, and by going to the FBI, they were doing everything in their power to prevent the men from committing any acts of sabotage.

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

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

French and Italian he seems to have been acquainted with so far as he deemed it necessary; but his principal literary studies were confined to Lessing, Bürger, Wieland, and Klopstock.

From Beethoven: A Memoir (2nd Ed.) by Elliott Graeme

Bürger which contrasts the naked rights of labor with the historic rights of rank in so sharp a fashion that, if it should be published today, it would undoubtedly be confiscated as communist literature.

From The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 08 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes by Various

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

The German version, told by Bürger in his famous ballad “Lenore,” is best known; and Raff has given it a musical setting in his Lenore Symphony.

From The Standard Cantatas Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers by George P. (George Putnam) Upton

It’s a really great spot for burgers, fish and steaks, so we’ll just go there for a little snack, and I’ll be the only one eating, because everyone’s still full.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

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

Real-life proprietor Andrea Pruett, a sweet but steely Southerner who kept her own gun behind the counter, greeted them in French and German, then fed them buffalo burgers and omelets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

When the Filipino company, famous for fried chicken, burgers and spaghetti, first announced the spinoff plan in January, it had said it was considering listing the international business on a U.S. securities exchange.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

“Or we could have moose burgers or moose meatloaf...or moose meatballs.”

From "I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964" by Lauren Tarshis