Bûrke, v. t.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. BURKED (bûrkt); p. pr. & vb. n. BURKING.] [From the name of an Irishman who first committed the crime in 1829.]
Sense 1. To murder, particularly by suffocation, or so as to produce few marks of violence, for the purpose of obtaining a body for dissection. [Rare.]
Sense 2. To dispose of quietly or indirectly; to smother; to shelve. “To burke a parliamentary question.” Ogilvie.