bury

American  

[ber-ee] / ˈbɛr i /

verb (used with object)

buried, burying

1. to put in the ground and cover with earth.

   The pirates buried the chest on the island.

2. to put (a corpse) in the ground or a vault, or into the sea, often with ceremony.

   They buried the sailor with full military honors.

   Synonyms:

   inhume, entomb, inter

   Antonyms:

   exhume, disinter

3. to plunge in deeply; cause to sink in.

   to bury an arrow in a target.

4. to cover in order to conceal from sight.

   She buried the card in the deck.

   Synonyms:

   secrete, hide

   Antonyms:

   uncover

5. to immerse (oneself).

   He buried himself in his work.

6. to put out of one's mind.

   to bury an insult.

7. to consign to obscurity; cause to appear insignificant by assigning to an unimportant location, position, etc..

   Her name was buried in small print at the end of the book.

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noun

plural

buries

1. Nautical. housing.

idioms

1. bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited.

2. 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 ¹ British  

/ ˈbɛrɪ /

verb

1. to place (a corpse) in a grave, usually with funeral rites; inter

2. to place in the earth and cover with soil

3. to lose through death

4. to cover from sight; hide

5. to embed; sink

   to bury a nail in plaster

6. to occupy (oneself) with deep concentration; engross

   to be buried in a book

7. to dismiss from the mind; abandon

   to bury old hatreds

8. to cease hostilities and become reconciled

9. to refuse to face a problem

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Bury ² British  

/ ˈbɛrɪ /

noun

1. a town in NW England, in Bury unitary authority, Greater Manchester: an early textile centre. Pop: 60 178 (2001)

2. a unitary authority in NW England, in Greater Manchester. Pop: 181 900 (2003 est). Area: 99 sq km (38 sq miles)

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Other Word Forms

• rebury verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of bury

First recorded 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

Explanation

When you dig a hole in the ground, put an object in the hole, and cover it up with dirt, you bury it. Your dog might prefer spending the majority of his time digging holes to bury his toy collection. You can bury something to hide it, or it can be part of a funeral ritual to bury a person who's died. You could also predict that the coming snow will bury the city, or you might bury your face in your hands if you were feeling dejected. The root of bury is the Proto-Indo-European word bhergh, "to protect or preserve." If you bury your money in the yard, maybe you're trying to protect it from thieves.

Example Sentences

As the fighting stretched on, other grieving families asked to bury their dead beside Hassan.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

To quote Frank Lloyd Wright: “The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his client to plant vines.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

But films about this specific form of gun violence provide audiences who have otherwise had to bury their grief with the chance to reckon with the reality.

From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026

Some volcanic eruptions are so extreme that they release enough magma to bury all of Central Park under 12 kilometers of material.

From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026

The nation could hardly bury its martyred Father Abraham with a lead ball lodged in his brain.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson

Related Words

• deposit
• entomb
• plant