1. to suppress or ignore quietly; to avoid dealing with something
2. to murder by suffocation, especially to sell the body for dissection
Usage: historical; from William Burke

Examples

• The committee decided to burke the controversial proposal.
• Management tried to burke the safety report.
• The scandal was burked by powerful interests.
• They attempted to burke any discussion of the budget cuts.
• The historical case involved criminals who would burke victims to sell their bodies to medical schools.