burke

[burk]

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

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

Related Words for burking

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 burking

Historical Examples of burking

But there is an Ulster difficulty, and no amount of burking it will solve it.
The Insurrection in Dublin
James Stephens
Two especially; that is to say, the practice of Burking, and bad surgery.
The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 4 (of 4)
Thomas Babington Macaulay
The burking of her own letters, sent with unfailing regularity until outraged pride bade her cease, was equally clear.
The Message
Louis Tracy
Having wrought so assiduously for anatomy, he ended by burking phrenology.
The Court of Cacus
Alexander Leighton
If a child were lost, the paragraph announcing the fact was headed, “Another supposed case of Burking.”
The Diary of a Resurrectionist, 1811-1812
James Blake Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for burking

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

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 burking

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.