...more things on heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in our phiosophies, and all that.

BURKE

PRONUNCIATION:
(buhrk)

MEANING:
verb tr.:
1. To murder by suffocation.
2. To silence or suppress.
3. To avoid or bypass.

ETYMOLOGY:
After William Burke (1792-1829), who killed people to sell their bodies for dissection. His preferred method was smothering so as to leave the body unmarked and suitable for dissection. He was captured, hanged, and on the judge's orders, his body was publicly dissected. Earliest documented use: 1829.

USAGE:
"When Logeto came in, the killer burked him. Logeto never made a sound."
William Diehl; Hooligans; Villard Books; 1984.

(Who'd'a thunk it !)


BUBKE - a rich yeast bread made with raisins and cinnamon; mostly afflicts Ashkenaze Jews, and others of eastern and middle European extraction