burke
verb (used with object)
to murder, as by suffocation, so as to leave no or few marks of violence.
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burke
1 American
[burk]
/ bɜrk /
verb (used with object)
burked,
burking
-
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.
Burke
2
American
[burk]
/ bɜrk /
noun
-
Billie Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke, 1886–1970, U.S. actress.
-
Edmund, 1729–97, Irish statesman, orator, and writer.
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Kenneth Duva 1897–1993, U.S. literary critic.
Burke
1
British
/ bɜːk /
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
burke
2
British
/ bɜːk /
verb
-
to murder in such a way as to leave no marks on the body, usually by suffocation
-
to get rid of, silence, or suppress
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of burke
After W. Burke, hanged in 1829 in Edinburgh for murders of this kind
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He has never been known to burke a school.
From Anticipations Of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human life and Thought by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
He had been sure then, and he was sure now, that Ministers desired to burke the question, to deceive the people, to produce a bill that should be no bill.
From Phineas Finn The Irish Member by Anthony Trollope
Little joy would you have had in most that has befallen since the Reform Bill was passed, to the chivalrous cry of "burke Sir Walter."
From Letters to Dead Authors by Andrew Lang
It has been said that in the delays in bringing forward this subject, I have been anxious to burke discussion.
From Indian speeches (1907-1909) by John Morley
Better perhaps not to burke the matter that she knew was on his mind.
From The Thousandth Woman by Ernest W. Hornung
Mr. Grant, the founder and editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, is the author of “Friends Until the End: Edmund Burke and Charles Fox in the Age of Revolution.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Burke insisted that new black lung cases do not reflect current mining conditions, because of the delay in the onset of symptoms.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Ramezanisadeh and Pasandideh were given their citizenship certificates at a ceremony attended by Australian Interior Minister Tony Burke.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
A recruiter’s eyes will scan the work experience at the top of a resume first, while certifications appear lower in the document, Burke noted.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
I ran with Burke and Clarence, and I forgot about Granny being toothless and diminished.
From "Louisiana's Way Home" by Kate DiCamillo
They burked the challenge then; their half measures of diplomatic ostracism only strengthened Franco with his own people.
From Time Magazine Archive
No, Mas’r Harry, I don’t; but I feel quite sure as they’ve burked him, and got him away with them bars of gold.
From The Golden Magnet by George Manville Fenn
The Mahmal was burked this year, and the fair at Tantah forbidden.
From Letters from Egypt by Janet Ross
Even the Cholera does not menace 'a gentleman of the better ranks;' and no bodies are burked with a decent suit of clothes on their backs.
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 19, No. 529, January 14, 1832 by Various
One or two motions for amnesty were burked by the previous question.
From History of the Commune of 1871 by P. Lissagary
The burking of his cablegrams, made known by the Baron, was the last straw in an aggravated load.
From The Wheel O' Fortune by Louis Tracy
But there is an Ulster difficulty, and no amount of burking it will solve it.
From The Insurrection in Dublin by James Stephens
I encounter a Vagualame disguised, who runs as if all the devils of hell were after him ... who makes off with extraordinary agility, whose presence of mind in burking pursuit is marvellous!...
From A Nest of Spies by Marcel Allain
Any tax, therefore, levied on those who have neither land nor money is a crying injustice, except, indeed," he added with bitter irony, "we admit of a small pole-tax to keep down burking.
From Dilemmas of Pride, (Vol 1 of 3) by Margracia Loudon
"I'm not even allowed to weed my own garden now," John thought, burking the point at issue; and his disillusionment became so profound that he actually invited Harold to go for a walk with him.
From Poor Relations by Compton MacKenzie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
