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burke

 
Dictionary: burke   (bûrk) pronunciation
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tr.v., burked, burk·ing, burkes.
  1. To suppress or extinguish quietly; stifle: burked the investigation by failing to reappoint the commission.
  2. To avoid; disregard: "To make (Robert M. Adams).
  3. To execute (someone) by suffocation so as to leave the body intact and suitable for dissection.

[After William Burke (1792-1829), Irish-born grave robber and murderer.]


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Thesaurus: burke
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Home > Library > Literature & Language > Thesaurus

verb

  1. To hold (something requiring an outlet) in check: choke (back), gag, hold back, hold down, hush (up), muffle, quench, repress, smother, squelch, stifle, strangle, suppress, throttle. Informal sit on (or upon). See restraint/unrestraint.
  2. To keep away from: avoid, bypass, circumvent, dodge, duck, elude, escape, eschew, evade, get around, shun. Idioms: fight shy of, give a wide berth to, have no truck with, keepstaysteerclear of. See seek/avoid.

Obscure Words: burke
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1) to suppress quietly or indirectly {burke an inquiry}
2) bypass, avoid
WordNet: burke
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: murder without leaving a trace on the body

Meaning #2: get rid of, silence, or suppress

 
 
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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more