burke
Noun · VerbUS[burk]/bɝk/1 syllable
Open English WordNet
Noun (2)
- British statesman famous for his oratory; pleaded the cause of the American colonists in British Parliament and defended the parliamentary system (1729-1797)Synonyms: Edmund BurkeInstance of orator, solon
- United States frontierswoman and legendary figure of the Wild West noted for her marksmanship (1852-1903)Synonyms: BurkMartha Jane BurkMartha Jane BurkeCalamity JaneInstance of frontierswoman
Verb (2)burked, burking
- murder without leaving a trace on the bodyMore general murder, slay
- get rid of, silence, or suppress“burke an issue”More general suppress, stamp down
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Burke (…), transitive verb [past tense & past participle Burked (…); present participle & verbal noun Burking.]
Origin: 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.
2. To dispose of quietly or indirectly; to suppress; to smother; to shelve; as, to burke a parliamentary question.
The court could not burke an inquiry, supported by such a mass of a affidavits.— C. Reade.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54