BURKE

Burk, Martha Jane Burk, Burke, Martha Jane Burke, Calamity Jane

(noun) United States frontierswoman and legendary figure of the Wild West noted for her marksmanship (1852-1903)

Burke, Edmund Burke

(noun) British statesman famous for his oratory; pleaded the cause of the American colonists in British Parliament and defended the parliamentary system (1729-1797)

burke

(verb) get rid of, silence, or suppress; “burke an issue”

burke

(verb) murder without leaving a trace on the body

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Proper noun

Burke

A topographical surname for someone who lived in a fortified place.

Any of various places in the United States, including

A small city, the county seat of Gregory County, South Dakota.

Anagrams

• Buker, Burek, burek

Etymology

Eponymous, from William Burke.

Verb

burke (third-person singular simple present burkes, present participle burking, simple past and past participle burked)

(UK, slang) To murder by suffocation

(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.

(UK, slang) To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress.

Noun

burke (plural burkes)

(British, slang) Alternative form of berk

Anagrams

• Buker, Burek, burek

Source: Wiktionary


Burke, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Burkeder, p. pr. & vb.n. Burkinger.] Etym: [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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

25 March 2025

IMMOBILIZATION

(noun) fixation (as by a plaster cast) of a body part in order to promote proper healing; “immobilization of the injured knee was necessary”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

The first coffee-house in Mecca dates back to the 1510s. The beverage was in Turkey by the 1530s. It appeared in Europe circa 1515-1519 and was introduced to England by 1650. By 1675 the country had more than 3,000 coffee houses, and coffee had replaced beer as a breakfast drink.

coffee icon