burke

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To murder by suffocation.

   • As soon as the executioner proceeded to his duty, the cries of ‘Burke him, Burke him—give him no rope’... were vociferated... ‘Burke Hare too!’
2. 2

   To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to…

   To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to anatomists, surgeons, etc.

   • Perhaps he is Burked, and his body sold for nine pounds.
   • ‘You don’t mean to say he was burked, Sam?’ said Mr. Pickwick, looking hastily round.
3. 3

   To smother

   To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress.

   • The reporters left it out... Those who spoke in favour of the poor men, were what the reporters call burked.
   • He put away—burked—the Directors' letter, and went in to talk to Riley
   • Socrates and Plato burked the issue.
4. ›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Alternative form of berk.

   2. 5

      A topographical surname from Anglo-Norman for someone who lived in a fortified place.

   3. 6

      A number of places in the United States

      A number of places in the United States:

   4. 7

      A local government area in north-west Queensland, Australia, named after Robert O'Hara…

      A local government area in north-west Queensland, Australia, named after Robert O'Hara Burke; in full, the Shire of Burke.

The neighborhood

• neighborbishop
• neighbor-borough
• neighborborough
• neighborbougie
• neighborbourgeois
• neighborbourgeoisie
• neighborburg
• neighbor-burg
• neighborburger
• neighborburgher
• neighbor-burgh
• neighborburgh