burke

burke — verb

1. to stop a question, report, or plan from being fully examined or openly discusse

1.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to stop a question, report, or plan from being fully examined or openly discussed, usually by indirect action

Example

The mayor tried to burke the report before the council meeting.

burke + report

Editors burked the story after advertisers complained about the factory fire.

burke + story to stop publicity

Common collocations
  • burke an inquiry
  • burke a report
  • burke a complaint
  • burke the discussion
Synonyms
  • suppress

    the broadest and most common choice for stopping something from being expressed or known

  • hush up

    informal; strongly suggests hiding embarrassing facts

  • quash

    more official; often used for stopping a complaint, case, or attempt by authority

  • stifle

    often suggests choking off discussion, growth, or feeling before it develops

Antonyms
  • expose

    to bring hidden facts into public view

  • investigate

    to examine a matter instead of smothering it

Grammar Patterns

burke + inquiry / report / complaint

burke + discussion / questions

Usage Note

Object is usually an inquiry, report, complaint, or discussion that someone wants kept from public attention. Distinguish from sense 2: here the aim is to stop examination or debate, not simply get round a step.

Common Mistakes

The police burked the thief behind the station.
The police caught the thief behind the station.
burke does not mean physically catch or stop a person; it is used for suppressing a matter or discussion.

2. to get past a rule, step, or difficult point without dealing with it directly

2.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to get past a rule, step, or difficult point without dealing with it directly

Example

Rather than answer, the minister burked the question with a joke.

burke + question

The website burkes the payment step if you save your card.

burke + step

Common collocations
  • burke a question
  • burke a rule
  • burke a step
  • burke the issue
Synonyms
  • bypass

    the closest neutral word for going round a step or system

  • sidestep

    often suggests cleverly avoiding a question or problem

  • dodge

    more informal and often more obvious or sneaky

  • evade

    more formal; commonly suggests avoiding a duty, answer, or responsibility

Antonyms
  • face

    to deal with a difficulty or question directly

  • address

    to give proper attention to an issue instead of avoiding it

Grammar Patterns

burke + question / issue

burke + rule / step / procedure

Usage Note

Often used with objects such as a question, rule, stage, or difficulty. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense skips round something, while sense 1 keeps it from being aired or pursued.

Common Mistakes

We burked to answer the email.
We burked the question in the email.
burke takes a direct object; it is not followed by a to-infinitive.
We burked the museum because it was closed.
We skipped the museum because it was closed.
burke is a rare formal word, usually used for a question, step, rule, or issue rather than an ordinary travel plan.

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

For verb/1, burke is a rare, literary verb for stopping a matter from being properly examined or talked about. Suppress is the broad everyday word and can be used for reports, evidence, protests, feelings, or news. Hush up is informal and strongly suggests a secret effort to hide something embarrassing from the public. Quash is more official and often means using authority to stop a complaint, case, or attempt completely. Stifle overlaps when talk or emotion is cut off before it grows. So a minister might burke an inquiry, a company might hush up a leak, a court might quash a claim, and fear might stifle debate.

suppress ↗hush upquashstifle

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

English

The verb burke comes from the surname of William Burke, one of the Edinburgh murderers of 1828. The word first referred to killing by smothering, because that method left few marks on the body. Later the meaning widened and became less literal, so burke came to mean quietly covering something up or stopping it from being fully examined.