01 v. t. 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.
imp. & p. p.
Burked; p. pr. & vb. n.
Burking
-
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.