burke
see also: Burke
Pronunciation Verb
Burke
Pronunciation
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
see also: Burke
Pronunciation Verb
burke (burkes, present participle burking; past and past participle burked)
- (UK, slang) To murder by suffocation
- 1829 February 2, Times (London), 3/5
- 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!’
- 1829 February 2, Times (London), 3/5
- (UK, slang, historical) To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to anatomists, surgeons, etc.
- 1833, T. Hook, Parson's Daughter, II. i. 26
- Perhaps he is Burked, and his body sold for nine pounds.
- 1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, Chapter 31:
- ‘You don’t mean to say he was burked, Sam?’ said Mr. Pickwick, looking hastily round.
- 1833, T. Hook, Parson's Daughter, II. i. 26
- (UK, slang) To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress.
- 1835, J. A. Roebuck. Dorchester Labourers, 6/1 (note)
- The reporters left it out... Those who spoke in favour of the poor men, were what the reporters call burked.
- 1888, Rudyard Kipling, "A Bank Fraud," Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio 2005, page 128:
- He put away—burked—the Directors' letter, and went in to talk to Riley
- 1953, Robert Graves, Poems, 4
- Socrates and Plato burked the issue.
- 1835, J. A. Roebuck. Dorchester Labourers, 6/1 (note)
burke (plural burkes)
- (British, slang) Alternative form of berk#English|berk
Burke
Pronunciation
- (America) IPA: /bɝk/
- Surname for someone who lived in a fortified place.
- Any of various places in the United States, including:
- A small city/county seat in Gregory County, South Dakota.
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003