Meanings
bury1
present singular third person buries · participle present burying · participle past buried · past buried
- To ritualistically inter in a grave or tomb.
- figurativelyoftentransitiveTo hide or conceal as if by covering with earth or another substance.
The splinter has buried itself under the nail.
4 more examples
She buried her face in the pillow, and I buried mine in my hands.
The information I need is buried behind needless details.
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 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28The Thai government has been trying to bury the memory of the revolution that gave birth to democracy in Thailand.
2017 June 29, Eugene Mark, “Time to Truly Understand Thailand’s 1932 Revolution”, in The Diplomat, Diplomat Media Inc., retrieved 23 Jun 2020- figurativelyoftentransitiveTo render imperceptible by other, more prominent stimuli; to drown out.
vocals buried in the mix
- broadlyfigurativelyoftentransitiveTo overwhelm.
They buried us in paperwork.
2 more examples
Beyond the daily firefighting, these managers and executives are overwhelmed in details and buried in administrative work
2013 November 17, Mike Weinberg, “Are You Moving the Needle on High Payoff Activity or Drowning in Details & Admin?”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)We live in an age when people are buried with information and nobody knows anything
2014 April 25, Kelly Egan, “Egan: All the information, but far too few answers”, in Ottawa Citizen
- figurativelytransitiveTo put an end to; to abandon.
They buried their argument and shook hands.
1 more example
Give me a bowl of wine. / In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius.
1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii] - transitivehobbiesTo 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.
2011 January 25, Paul Fletcher, “Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (agg. 3-1)”, in BBC - slangtransitivegovernmentTo ruin the image or character of another wrestler; usually by embarrassing or defeating them in dominating fashion.
plural buries
- obsoletetransitiveA burrow.
Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out.
1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC1 more example
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, →ISBN, book I (The Sword in the Stone)
bury2
plural buries
- transitiveA borough; a manor
Indisputable, though very dim to modern vision, rests on its hill-slope that same Bury, Stow, or Town of St. Edmund; already a considerable place, not without traffic
1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. 5, Twelfth Century”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk)
Bury3
plural Burys
- A place in England:
- countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Huntingdonshire district, Cambridgeshire (OS grid ref TL2883).
- countableuncountableA town and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester.
The proposed City Valley Rail Link would use the existing East Lancashire Railway route between Rawtenstall and Bury, with passengers connecting to Metrolink services into Manchester.
2026 September 3, William Morgan, David Saville, “Town's rail link plans move a step closer”, in BBC News, retrieved 04 Sep 2026 - countableuncountableA hamlet in Brompton Regis parish, Somerset West and Taunton district, Somerset (OS grid ref SS9427).
- countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Chichester district, West Sussex (OS grid ref TQ0113).
- abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Bury St Edmunds.
- countableuncountableA commune in Oise department, Hauts-de-France, France.
- countableuncountableA municipality in Le Haut-Saint-François Regional County Municipality, Estrie region, Quebec, Canada.
- countableuncountableA habitational surname from Old English.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo kill or murder.
verbTo outlive.
verbTo place in the ground.
More synonyms by meaning
verbenclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
bury · verb, noun
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰergʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*burgijaną
- Proto-West Germanic*burgijan
- Old Englishbyrġan
- Middle Englishbirien
- Englishbury
Middle English birien, 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 historical pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects with /ɪʊ̯/ (compare fury), while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɛ/ is from the Kentish dialects. Compare typologically Russian хорони́ть (xoronítʹ) (akin to храни́ть (xranítʹ)), Polish chować.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Bury · proper noun
- Old Englishburg
- EnglishBury
The place name means "fort," from Old English burg. Doublet of borough, Brough, and burgh.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans begrawe
- begraweto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Ancient Greek θάπτω, θάπτω
- θάπτω (tháptō)to place in the ground
- θάπτω (tháptō)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- τυμβεύω (tumbeúō)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Arabic دَفَنَ, قَبَرَ
- دَفَنَ (dafana)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- قَبَرَ (qabara)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- دَفَنَ (dafana)to hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Bengali পোঁতা, মাটি দেওয়া
- পোঁতা (pō̃ta)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- মাটি দেওয়া (maṭi deōẇa)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- গোর দেওয়া (gōr deōẇa)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Bulgarian зара́вям, заро́вя
- зара́вям (zarávjam)to place in the ground
- заро́вя (zaróvja)to place in the ground
- погре́бвам (pogrébvam)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- погреба́ (pogrebá)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- затрупвам (zatrupvam)to hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Catalan enterrar, enterrar
- enterrarto place in the ground
- enterrarto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- sepultarto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- enterrarto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Chinese Mandarin 掩埋, 埋藏
- 掩埋 (yǎnmái)to place in the ground
- 埋藏 (máicáng)to place in the ground
- 埋葬 (máizàng)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- 埋 (mái)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- 下葬 (xiàzàng)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Czech pohřbívat, pohřbít
- pohřbívatto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- pohřbítto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Danish begrave
- begraveto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Dutch begraven, begraven
- begravento place in the ground
- begravento put an end to; to abandon
- opgevento put an end to; to abandon
- begravento inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- begravento hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Esperanto enfosi, enterigi
- enfosito place in the ground
- enterigito inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Estonian matma
- matmato inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Finnish listiä, haudata
- listiäslang: to kill or murder
- haudatato place in the ground
- kaivaa maahanto place in the ground
- kuopatato place in the ground
- peittyä jonkin alleto render imperceptible by other, more prominent stimuli
- jäädä jonkin varjoonto render imperceptible by other, more prominent stimuli
- nielläto suppress and hide away in one's mind
- haudatato put an end to; to abandon
- upottaato score a goal
- haudatato inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- haudatato hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
- hukuttaato hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
French enterrer, enterrer
- enterrerto place in the ground
- enterrerto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- ensevelirto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- enterrerto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
German vergraben, eingraben
- vergrabento place in the ground
- eingrabento place in the ground
- begrabento put an end to; to abandon
- beerdigento inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- begrabento inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- vergrabento hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Greek θάβω, ενταφιάζω
- θάβω (thávo)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- ενταφιάζω (entafiázo)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Hebrew קָבַר
- קָבַר (kavár)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Hindi गाड़ना, दफ़नाना
- गाड़ना (gāṛnā)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- दफ़नाना (dafnānā)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- दफ़न करना (dafan karnā)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Hungarian temet
- temetto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Icelandic grafa
- grafato inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Irish cuir, cuir san uaigh
- cuirto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- cuir san uaighto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- adhlaicto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Italian sotterrare, seppellire
- sotterrareto place in the ground
- seppellireto put an end to; to abandon
- dimenticareto put an end to; to abandon
- mettere una pietra soprato put an end to; to abandon
- seppellireto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- inumareto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- sotterrareto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- sotterrareto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
- nascondereto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
- sprofondareto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Japanese 埋める, 葬る
- 埋める (umeru)to place in the ground
- 葬る (hōmuru)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- 埋葬する (maisō suru)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Korean 묻다, 매장하다
- 묻다 (mutda)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- 매장하다 (maejanghada)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Latin humō, dēfodiō
- humōto place in the ground
- dēfodiōto place in the ground
- īnfodiōto place in the ground
- sepeliōto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- tumulōto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- humōto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- dēfodiōto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Latvian apbedīt, apglabāt
- apbedītto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- apglabātto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Lithuanian palaidoti
- palaidotito inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Malay kubur, kubur
- kuburto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- kuburto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Norwegian Bokmål begrave, gravlegge
- begraveto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- gravleggeto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Persian دفن کردن, نگندن
- دفن کردن (dafn kardan)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- نگندن (negandan)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Polish zakopać, zakopywać
- zakopaćto place in the ground
- zakopywaćto place in the ground
- chowaćto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- pochowaćto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- grzebaćto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- pogrzebaćto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- zakopywaćto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
- zakopaćto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Portuguese enterrar, soterrar
- enterrarto place in the ground
- soterrarto place in the ground
- esquecerto put an end to; to abandon
- enterrarto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- sepultarto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- inumarto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- enterrarto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Romanian îngropa, îngropa
- îngropato place in the ground
- îngropato inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- înmormântato inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- înhumato inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Russian зарыва́ть, зары́ть
- зарыва́ть (zaryvátʹ)to place in the ground
- зары́ть (zarýtʹ)to place in the ground
- зака́пывать (zakápyvatʹ)to place in the ground
- закопа́ть (zakopátʹ)to place in the ground
- хорони́ть (xoronítʹ)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- похорони́ть (poxoronítʹ)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- погреба́ть (pogrebátʹ)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- погрести́ (pogrestí)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- пря́тать (prjátatʹ)to hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
- спря́тать (sprjátatʹ)to hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Slovak zahrabať, pochovať
- zahrabaťto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- pochovaťto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Spanish enterrar, enterrar
- enterrarto place in the ground
- enterrarto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- dar sepulturato inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- sepultarto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Swedish begrava, gräva ner/gräva ned
- begravato place in the ground
- gräva ner/gräva nedto place in the ground
- glömmato put an end to; to abandon
- begravato inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- begravato hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
- gömmato hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Tagalog magbaon, ibaon
- magbaonto place in the ground
- ibaonto place in the ground
- kalimutanto put an end to; to abandon
- limutinto put an end to; to abandon
- libingto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- maglibingto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- ilibingto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- madumogto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
- idumogto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Thai ฝัง, ฝัง
- ฝัง (fǎng)to place in the ground
- ฝัง (fǎng)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Turkish gömmek, gömmek
- gömmekto place in the ground
- gömmekto put an end to; to abandon
- defnetmekto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- gömmekto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- saklamakto hide or conceal as if by covering with earth
Ukrainian зарива́ти, зари́ти
- зарива́ти (zaryváty)to place in the ground
- зари́ти (zarýty)to place in the ground
- зака́пувати (zakápuvaty)to place in the ground
- зака́пати (zakápaty)to place in the ground
- хова́ти (xováty)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- похова́ти (poxováty)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- хорони́ти (xoronýty)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- похорони́ти (poxoronýty)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Urdu دَفَن کَرنا, گاڑْنا
- دَفَن کَرنا (dafan karnā)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- گاڑْنا (gāṛnā)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- دَفْنانا (dafnānā)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Vietnamese chôn, mai táng
- chônto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
- mai tángto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Welsh claddu
- cladduto inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Yiddish באַגראָבן
- באַגראָבן (bagrobn)to inter a corpse in a grave or tomb
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with bury
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
bury. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bury
“bury.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bury. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bury,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bury.
Source: bury on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.