bury

Etymology 1

Middle English burien, berien, from Old English byrġan, from Proto-West Germanic *burgijan, from Proto-Germanic *burgijaną (“to keep safe”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to defend, protect”). Cognate with Icelandic byrgja (“to cover, shut; to hold in”); West Frisian bergje (“to keep”), German bergen (“to save/rescue something”), Danish bjerge (“to save/rescue something or somebody”); also Eastern Lithuanian bir̃ginti (“to save, spare”), Russian бере́чь (beréčʹ, “to spare”), Ossetian ӕмбӕрзын (æmbærzyn, “to cover”). The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects, while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɛ/ is from the Kentish dialects.

verb

1. (transitive) To ritualistically inter in a grave or tomb.
2. (transitive) To place in the ground.
   bury a bone; bury the embers
3. (transitive, often figurative) To hide or conceal as if by covering with earth or another substance.
   she buried her face in the pillow; they buried us in paperwork
   Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale.[…]Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge. 2013-06-29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28
   The Thai government has been trying to bury the memory of the revolution that gave birth to democracy in Thailand. 2017-06-29, Eugene Mark, “Time to Truly Understand Thailand’s 1932 Revolution”, in The Diplomat, Diplomat Media Inc., retrieved 2020-06-23
4. (transitive, figurative) To suppress and hide away in one's mind.
   secrets kept buried; she buried her shame and put on a smiling face.
5. (transitive, figurative) To put an end to; to abandon.
   They buried their argument and shook hands.
6. (transitive, figurative) To score a goal.
   You could feel the relief after Bendtner collected Wilshere's raking pass before cutting inside Carlos Edwards and burying his shot beyond Fulop. January 25, 2011, Paul Fletcher, “Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (agg. 3-1)”, in BBC
7. (transitive, figurative, slang) To kill or murder.
8. To render imperceptible by other, more prominent stimuli; drown out.
   vocals buried in the mix (music production)
9. (transitive, figurative, humorous) To outlive.
   Grandpa's still in excellent health. He'll bury us all!
10. (professional wrestling slang) Ruining the image or character of another wrestler, usually by defeating them in dominating fashion.

noun

1. (obsolete) A burrow.
   The conies had hundreds of buries under these trees, so close together that the problem was not to find a rabbit, but to find a rabbit far enough away from its hole. 1958, T[erence] H[anbury] White, chapter I, in The Once and Future King, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, book I (The Sword in the Stone)

Etymology 2

See borough.

noun

1. A borough; a manor