burke

[burk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR burke ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), burked, burk·ing.

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.

Origin of burke

after W. Burke, hanged in 1829 in Edinburgh for murders of this kind

Related formsburk·er, burk·ite

[bur-kahyt] /ˈbɜr kaɪt/, noun

Burke

[burk]

noun

BillieMary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke, 1886–1970, U.S. actress.

Edmund,1729–97, Irish statesman, orator, and writer.

Kenneth Du·va [doo-vey] /duˈveɪ/, 1897–1993, U.S. literary critic.

Burk

or Burke

[burk]

noun

Martha Jane,1852?–1903, Calamity Jane.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for burke

dodge, elude, sidestep, evade, ignore, bypass, circumvent, muzzle, suppress, smother, repress, suffocate, curb, squelch, strangle, silence, subdue, quench, censor, abolish

Examples from the Web for burke

Contemporary Examples of burke

Robert Kennedy and his Assistant Attorney General Burke Marshall brought new energy to the Civil Rights Division.
Honoring The Late John Doar, A Nearly Forgotten Hero Of The Civil Rights Era
Gary May
November 15, 2014
No friend of liberty can avoid the tumble back and forth between Burke and Paine.
My Coffee Klatch With Rand Paul
P. J. O’Rourke
September 27, 2014
An earlier Marquette Law School poll showed a tighter race, but with Burke again easily beating Walker by 18 points among women.
What Do Women Want? Not the GOP
Lloyd Green
September 8, 2014
It is a place certainly worth visiting, and with Burke as host, one that is difficult to leave.
James Lee Burke Talks About His Fiction, History, and the American Dream
David Masciotra
July 20, 2014
Burke insists that he is not nostalgic and he is not delusional.
James Lee Burke Talks About His Fiction, History, and the American Dream
David Masciotra
July 20, 2014

Historical Examples of burke

Burke winced, but he made shift to conceal his realization of the truth she had stated to him.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Burke swung himself around in a movement of complete disgust.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Inspector Burke will tell you how easy it is for me to get it.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Inspector Burke himself filled the void in the halting sentence.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
It was Burke who offered a diversion, a crude interruption after his own fashion.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana

British Dictionary definitions for burke

burke

verb (tr)

to murder in such a way as to leave no marks on the body, usually by suffocation

to get rid of, silence, or suppress

Word Origin for burke

C19: named after William Burke, executed in Edinburgh for a murder of this type

Burke

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

burk

noun

British slang a variant spelling of berk

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for burke

Burke

family name (first recorded 1066), from Anglo-Norman pronunciation of Old English burgh. Not common in England itself, but it took root in Ireland, where William de Burgo went in 1171 with Henry II and later became Earl of Ulster. As shorthand for a royalty reference book, it represents "A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom," first issued 1826, compiled by John Burke (1787-1848). As a verb meaning "murder by smothering," it is abstracted from William Burk, executed in Edinburgh 1829 for murdering several persons to sell their bodies for dissection.