BURKING

Verb

burking

present participle of burke

Source: Wiktionary


BURKE

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



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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Coffee Trivia

In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.

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