The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Burke \Burke\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Burked; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Burking.] [From one Burke of Edinburgh, who committed the
   crime in 1829.]
   1. To murder by suffocation, or so as to produce few marks of
      violence, for the purpose of obtaining a body to be sold
      for dissection.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To dispose of quietly or indirectly; to suppress; to
      smother; to shelve; as, to burke a parliamentary question.
      [1913 Webster]

            The court could not burke an inquiry, supported by
            such a mass of a affidavits.          --C. Reade.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Burke
    n 1: British statesman famous for his oratory; pleaded the cause
         of the American colonists in British Parliament and
         defended the parliamentary system (1729-1797) [syn:
         Burke, Edmund Burke]
    2: United States frontierswoman and legendary figure of the Wild
       West noted for her marksmanship (1852-1903) [syn: Burk,
       Martha Jane Burk, Burke, Martha Jane Burke, Calamity
       Jane]
    v 1: murder without leaving a trace on the body
    2: get rid of, silence, or suppress; "burke an issue"