burke

verb

ˈbərk 

burked; burking

transitive verb

1

: to suppress quietly or indirectly

burke an inquiry

2

: bypass, avoid

burke an issue

Did you know?

When an elderly pensioner died at the Edinburgh boarding house of William Hare in 1827, the proprietor and his friend William Burke decided to sell the body to a local anatomy school. The sale was so lucrative that they decided to make sure they could repeat it. They began luring nameless wanderers (who were not likely to be missed) into the house, getting them drunk, then smothering or strangling them and selling the bodies. The two disposed of at least 15 victims before murdering a local woman whose disappearance led to their arrest. At Burke's execution (by hanging), irate crowds shouted "Burke him!" As a result of the case, the word burke became a byword first for death by suffocation or strangulation and eventually for any cover-up.

Synonyms of burke

• suppress
• silence

Examples of burke in a Sentence

the executives knew that the drug had dangerous side effects, but they burked the findings

Word History

Etymology

from burke to suffocate, from William Burke †1829 Irish criminal executed for smothering victims to sell their bodies for dissection

First Known Use

1835, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for burke

• berk
• birk
• cirque
• clerk
• dirk
• erk
• irk
• jerk
• kirk
• lurk
• merc
• merch

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Biographical Definition

Burke

biographical name

ˈbərk 

Edmund 1729–1797 British statesman and orator

Burkean adjective

or Burkian

ˈbər-kē-ən