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definitions

bury

[ber-ee]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bury ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), bur·ied, bur·y·ing.

noun, plural bur·ies.

Nautical. housing1(def 8a, b).

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RELATED WORDS

plant, entomb, deposit, hide, stash, embed, sink, submerge, enshrine, embalm, inter, inhume, mummify, occult, screen, cache, enshroud, shroud, ensconce, secrete

Nearby words

  1. buru,
  2. burundi,
  3. burundian,
  4. burushaski,
  5. burweed,
  6. bury one's head in the sand,
  7. bury st edmunds,
  8. bury st. edmunds,
  9. bury the hatchet,
  10. buryat

Idioms

    bury one's head in the sand, to avoid reality; ignore the facts of a situation: You cannot continue to bury your head in the sand—you must learn to face facts.
    bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited.

Origin of bury

before 1000; Middle English berien, buryen, Old English byrgan to bury, conceal; akin to Old English beorgan to hide, protect, preserve; cognate with Dutch, German bergen, Gothic bairgan, Old Norse bjarga
ANTONYMS FOR bury
2. disinter, exhume. 4. uncover.
SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR bury ON THESAURUS.COM
Related formshalf-bur·ied, adjectivere·bur·y, verb (used with object), re·bur·ied, re·bur·y·ing.un·bur·ied, adjectivewell-bur·ied, adjective
Can be confusedBarry berry bury
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bury

British Dictionary definitions for bury

bury

verb buries, burying or buried (tr)

to place (a corpse) in a grave, usually with funeral rites; inter
to place in the earth and cover with soil
to lose through death
to cover from sight; hide
to embed; sinkto bury a nail in plaster
to occupy (oneself) with deep concentration; engrossto be buried in a book
to dismiss from the mind; abandonto bury old hatreds
bury the hatchet to cease hostilities and become reconciled
bury one's head in the sand to refuse to face a problem

Word Origin for bury

Old English byrgan to bury, hide; related to Old Norse bjarga to save, preserve, Old English beorgan to defend

Bury

noun

a town in NW England, in Bury unitary authority, Greater Manchester: an early textile centre. Pop: 60 178 (2001)
a unitary authority in NW England, in Greater Manchester. Pop: 181 900 (2003 est). Area: 99 sq km (38 sq miles)
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 bury

bury

v.

Old English byrgan "to raise a mound, hide, bury, inter," akin to beorgan "to shelter," from Proto-Germanic *burzjan- "protection, shelter" (cf. Old Saxon bergan, Dutch bergen, Old Norse bjarga, Swedish berga, Old High German bergan "protect, shelter, conceal," German bergen, Gothic bairgan "to save, preserve"), from PIE root *bhergh- "protect, preserve" (cf. Old Church Slavonic brego "I preserve, guard"). Related: Buried; burying. Burying-ground "cemetery" attested from 1711.

The Old English -y- was a short "oo" sound, like modern French -u-. Under normal circumstances it transformed into Modern English -i- (e.g. bridge, kiss, listen, sister), but in bury and a few other words (e.g. merry, knell) it retained a Kentish change to "e" that took place in the late Old English period. In the West Midlands, meanwhile, the Old English -y- sound persisted, slightly modified over time, giving the standard modern pronunciation of blush, much, church.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper