"burke" meaning in English

See burke in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /bɜː(ɹ)k/ Audio: en-us-burke.ogg Forms: burkes [plural]
enPR: bûrk Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)k Head templates: {{en-noun}} burke (plural burkes)
  1. (British, slang) Alternative form of berk Tags: British, alt-of, alternative, slang Alternative form of: berk
    Sense id: en-burke-en-noun-X~m58HUG Categories (other): British English
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Verb

IPA: /bɜː(ɹ)k/ Audio: en-us-burke.ogg Forms: burkes [present, singular, third-person], burking [participle, present], burked [participle, past], burked [past]
enPR: bûrk Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)k Etymology: Eponymous, from William Burke. Head templates: {{en-verb}} burke (third-person singular simple present burkes, present participle burking, simple past and past participle burked)
  1. (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To murder by suffocation. Tags: Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, slang
    Sense id: en-burke-en-verb-hM9soO3u Categories (other): Australian English, British English, Irish English, New Zealand English
  2. (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang, historical) To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to anatomists, surgeons, etc. Tags: Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, historical, slang
    Sense id: en-burke-en-verb-D1L6B4bF Categories (other): Australian English, British English, Irish English, New Zealand English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 13 21 39 27 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 8 20 50 21 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 6 23 48 23
  3. (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress. Tags: Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, slang
    Sense id: en-burke-en-verb-qsGWzQ3a Categories (other): Australian English, British English, Irish English, New Zealand English
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: burker Related terms: bishop
Etymology number: 1

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "burker"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "Eponymous, from William Burke.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "burkes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "burking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "burked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "burked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "burke (third-person singular simple present burkes, present participle burking, simple past and past participle burked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "bishop"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Irish English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "New Zealand English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1829 February 2, Times (London), 3/5",
          "text": "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!’"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To murder by suffocation."
      ],
      "id": "en-burke-en-verb-hM9soO3u",
      "links": [
        [
          "murder",
          "murder"
        ],
        [
          "suffocation",
          "suffocation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To murder by suffocation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Ireland",
        "New-Zealand",
        "UK",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Irish English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "New Zealand English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 21 39 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 20 50 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 23 48 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Keepsake 1833, One Peep was Enough, pages 303–304:",
          "text": "\"I don’t know that,\" interrupted the landlady; \"Williams is a good hanging name: there was Williams who murdered the Marr's family, and Williams who burked all those poor dear children; I dare say he is some relation of theirs; but to think of his coming to the White Hart—it's no place for his doings, I can tell him: he sha'n't poison his wife in my house; out he goes this very night—I'll take the letter to him myself.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1833, T. Hook, Parson's Daughter, II. i. 26:",
          "text": "Perhaps he is Burked, and his body sold for nine pounds.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Chapter 31”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:",
          "text": "‘You don’t mean to say he was burked, Sam?’ said Mr. Pickwick, looking hastily round.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to anatomists, surgeons, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-burke-en-verb-D1L6B4bF",
      "links": [
        [
          "murder",
          "murder"
        ],
        [
          "same",
          "same"
        ],
        [
          "purpose",
          "purpose"
        ],
        [
          "kill",
          "kill"
        ],
        [
          "in order to",
          "in order to"
        ],
        [
          "have",
          "have"
        ],
        [
          "body",
          "body"
        ],
        [
          "sell",
          "sell"
        ],
        [
          "anatomist",
          "anatomist"
        ],
        [
          "surgeons",
          "surgeons"
        ],
        [
          "etc.",
          "etc."
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang, historical) To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to anatomists, surgeons, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Ireland",
        "New-Zealand",
        "UK",
        "historical",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Irish English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "New Zealand English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1835, J. A. Roebuck, Dorchester Labourers, 6/1 (note):",
          "text": "The reporters left it out... Those who spoke in favour of the poor men, were what the reporters call burked.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1888, Rudyard Kipling, “A Bank Fraud,”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 128:",
          "text": "He put away—burked—the Directors' letter, and went in to talk to Riley",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1953, Robert Graves, Poems, section 4:",
          "text": "Socrates and Plato burked the issue.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress."
      ],
      "id": "en-burke-en-verb-qsGWzQ3a",
      "links": [
        [
          "smother",
          "smother"
        ],
        [
          "suppress",
          "suppress"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Ireland",
        "New-Zealand",
        "UK",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bûrk"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɜː(ɹ)k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-burke.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0b/En-us-burke.ogg/En-us-burke.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/En-us-burke.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)k"
    }
  ],
  "word": "burke"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "burkes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "burke (plural burkes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "berk"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
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        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of berk"
      ],
      "id": "en-burke-en-noun-X~m58HUG",
      "links": [
        [
          "berk",
          "berk#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, slang) Alternative form of berk"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "alt-of",
        "alternative",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bûrk"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɜː(ɹ)k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-burke.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0b/En-us-burke.ogg/En-us-burke.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/En-us-burke.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)k"
    }
  ],
  "word": "burke"
}
{
  "categories": [
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English eponyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)k",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)k/1 syllable"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "burker"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "Eponymous, from William Burke.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "burkes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "burking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "burked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "burked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
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  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "burke (third-person singular simple present burkes, present participle burking, simple past and past participle burked)",
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "bishop"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "British English",
        "English slang",
        "Irish English",
        "New Zealand English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1829 February 2, Times (London), 3/5",
          "text": "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!’"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To murder by suffocation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "murder",
          "murder"
        ],
        [
          "suffocation",
          "suffocation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To murder by suffocation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Ireland",
        "New-Zealand",
        "UK",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "British English",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with historical senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Irish English",
        "New Zealand English",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Keepsake 1833, One Peep was Enough, pages 303–304:",
          "text": "\"I don’t know that,\" interrupted the landlady; \"Williams is a good hanging name: there was Williams who murdered the Marr's family, and Williams who burked all those poor dear children; I dare say he is some relation of theirs; but to think of his coming to the White Hart—it's no place for his doings, I can tell him: he sha'n't poison his wife in my house; out he goes this very night—I'll take the letter to him myself.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1833, T. Hook, Parson's Daughter, II. i. 26:",
          "text": "Perhaps he is Burked, and his body sold for nine pounds.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Chapter 31”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:",
          "text": "‘You don’t mean to say he was burked, Sam?’ said Mr. Pickwick, looking hastily round.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to anatomists, surgeons, etc."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "murder",
          "murder"
        ],
        [
          "same",
          "same"
        ],
        [
          "purpose",
          "purpose"
        ],
        [
          "kill",
          "kill"
        ],
        [
          "in order to",
          "in order to"
        ],
        [
          "have",
          "have"
        ],
        [
          "body",
          "body"
        ],
        [
          "sell",
          "sell"
        ],
        [
          "anatomist",
          "anatomist"
        ],
        [
          "surgeons",
          "surgeons"
        ],
        [
          "etc.",
          "etc."
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang, historical) To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to anatomists, surgeons, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Ireland",
        "New-Zealand",
        "UK",
        "historical",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "British English",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Irish English",
        "New Zealand English",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1835, J. A. Roebuck, Dorchester Labourers, 6/1 (note):",
          "text": "The reporters left it out... Those who spoke in favour of the poor men, were what the reporters call burked.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1888, Rudyard Kipling, “A Bank Fraud,”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 128:",
          "text": "He put away—burked—the Directors' letter, and went in to talk to Riley",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1953, Robert Graves, Poems, section 4:",
          "text": "Socrates and Plato burked the issue.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "smother",
          "smother"
        ],
        [
          "suppress",
          "suppress"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Ireland",
        "New-Zealand",
        "UK",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bûrk"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɜː(ɹ)k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-burke.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0b/En-us-burke.ogg/En-us-burke.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/En-us-burke.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)k"
    }
  ],
  "word": "burke"
}

{
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    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English eponyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)k",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)k/1 syllable"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "burkes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "burke (plural burkes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "berk"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of berk"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "berk",
          "berk#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, slang) Alternative form of berk"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "alt-of",
        "alternative",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bûrk"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɜː(ɹ)k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-burke.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0b/En-us-burke.ogg/En-us-burke.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/En-us-burke.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)k"
    }
  ],
  "word": "burke"
}

Download raw JSONL data for burke meaning in English (5.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.