bury

[ber-ee] /ˈbɛr i/
verb (used with object), buried, burying.
1.
to put in the ground and cover with earth:
The pirates buried the chest on the island.
2.
to put (a corpse) in the ground or a vault, or into the sea, often with ceremony:
They buried the sailor with full military honors.
3.
to plunge in deeply; cause to sink in:
to bury an arrow in a target.
4.
to cover in order to conceal from sight:
She buried the card in the deck.
5.
to immerse (oneself):
He buried himself in his work.
6.
to put out of one's mind:
to bury an insult.
7.
to consign to obscurity; cause to appear insignificant by assigning to an unimportant location, position, etc.:
Her name was buried in small print at the end of the book.
noun, plural buries.
8.
Nautical, housing1 (def 8a, b).
Idioms
9.
bury one's head in the sand, to avoid reality; ignore the facts of a situation:
You cannot continue to bury your head in the sand—you must learn to face facts.
10.
bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English berien, buryen, Old English byrgan to bury, conceal; akin to Old English beorgan to hide, protect, preserve; cognate with Dutch, German bergen, Gothic bairgan, Old Norse bjarga
Related forms
half-buried, adjective
rebury, verb (used with object), reburied, reburying.
unburied, adjective
well-buried, adjective
Can be confused
Barry, berry, bury.
Synonyms
2. inter, entomb, inhume. 4. hide, secrete.
Antonyms
2. disinter, exhume. 4. uncover.
Examples from the web for bury
  • Unless you mount the sucker to a tripod and then bury the tripod a few feet in the ground, the video's gonna look shaky.
  • Now bury the rock and place a landscape flag into the ground above the rock.
  • They may even gently bury the seeds in the mosses at the plant's feet.
  • bury the foods you do add, or turn the pile to cover new materials.
  • If the webmaster doesn't agree to have the negative content removed, your next best option is to bury it.
  • To claim that the new study is in any way shocking, be that to praise it or to bury it, is simply ridiculous.
  • If you're on your property, you can bury a box with a prize in it.
  • Fearing that, some will probably order the bulldozers quietly to bury what they unearth.
  • There are those that specialize in the ordure of sloths, animals that bury their dung.
  • University officials plan to bury another time capsule in the walls of the new building.
British Dictionary definitions for bury

bury

/ˈbɛrɪ/
verb (transitive) buries, burying, buried
1.
to place (a corpse) in a grave, usually with funeral rites; inter
2.
to place in the earth and cover with soil
3.
to lose through death
4.
to cover from sight; hide
5.
to embed; sink: to bury a nail in plaster
6.
to occupy (oneself) with deep concentration; engross: to be buried in a book
7.
to dismiss from the mind; abandon: to bury old hatreds
8.
bury the hatchet, to cease hostilities and become reconciled
9.
bury one's head in the sand, to refuse to face a problem
Word Origin
Old English byrgan to bury, hide; related to Old Norse bjarga to save, preserve, Old English beorgan to defend

Bury

/ˈbɛrɪ/
noun
1.
a town in NW England, in Bury unitary authority, Greater Manchester: an early textile centre. Pop: 60 178 (2001)
2.
a unitary authority in NW England, in Greater Manchester. Pop: 181 900 (2003 est). Area: 99 sq km (38 sq miles)
Word Origin and History for bury
v.

Old English byrgan "to raise a mound, hide, bury, inter," akin to beorgan "to shelter," from Proto-Germanic *burzjan- "protection, shelter" (cf. Old Saxon bergan, Dutch bergen, Old Norse bjarga, Swedish berga, Old High German bergan "protect, shelter, conceal," German bergen, Gothic bairgan "to save, preserve"), from PIE root *bhergh- "protect, preserve" (cf. Old Church Slavonic brego "I preserve, guard"). Related: Buried; burying. Burying-ground "cemetery" attested from 1711.

The Old English -y- was a short "oo" sound, like modern French -u-. Under normal circumstances it transformed into Modern English -i- (e.g. bridge, kiss, listen, sister), but in bury and a few other words (e.g. merry, knell) it retained a Kentish change to "e" that took place in the late Old English period. In the West Midlands, meanwhile, the Old English -y- sound persisted, slightly modified over time, giving the standard modern pronunciation of blush, much, church.

Slang definitions & phrases for bury

bury

verb
  1. To sentence someone to a very long prison term or to solitary confinement (1900+ Underworld)
  2. To defeat decisively; clobber (1940s+ Sports)