to place (a corpse) in a grave, usually with funeral rites; inter to place in the earth and cover with soil to cover from sight; hide to embed; sink: to bury a nail in plaster to occupy (oneself) with deep concentration; engross: to be buried in a book to dismiss from the mind; abandon: to bury old hatreds
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
bur•y /ˈbɛri/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object], -ied, -y•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- to put (a dead body) in the ground or a vault, or into the sea, often with ceremony:buried next to his wife of fifty years.
- to put in the ground and cover with earth:The treasure was buried in six feet of earth.
- to cover with something:He was buried in the rubble of the building.
- plunge into;
sink into:[often: ~ + oneself/itself]The bullet had buried itself in the tree. - to conceal from sight;
hide: to bury a card in the deck. - [~ + oneself] to be occupied in: He buried himself in his work.
- Idioms bury one's head in the sand, to ignore the facts of a situation:You have to take a stand on this issue and stop burying your head in the sand.
- Idioms bury the hatchet, to stop fighting:decided to bury the hatchet and see if we could work together once more.
bur•y
(ber′ē),USA pronunciation v., bur•ied, bur•y•ing, n., pl. bur•ies.
v.t.
n.
v.t.
- to put in the ground and cover with earth:The pirates buried the chest on the island.
- 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.
- to plunge in deeply;
cause to sink in:to bury an arrow in a target. - to cover in order to conceal from sight:She buried the card in the deck.
- to immerse (oneself ):He buried himself in his work.
- to put out of one's mind:to bury an insult.
- 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. - Idioms 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. - Idioms bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited.
n.
- Naval Terms[Naut.]housing1 (def. 8a, b).
- bef. 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
- 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged inter, entomb, inhume.
- 4.See corresponding entry in Unabridged hide, secrete.
- 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged disinter, exhume.
- 4.See corresponding entry in Unabridged uncover.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
a town in NW England, in Bury unitary authority, Greater Manchester: an early textile centre. Pop: 60 178 (2001) a unitary authority in NW England, in Greater Manchester. Pop: 181 900 (2003 est). Area: 99 sq km (38 sq miles)
'bury' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Asbury Park
- Banbury cake
- Banbury tart
- Bury St Edmunds
- Bury St. Edmunds
- Greater Manchester
- Heywood
- John of Salisbury
- New Shrewsbury
- Prestwich
- Salisbury Plain
- Salisbury steak
- Silbury Hill
- William of Malmesbury
- anchor
- burial
- burier
- burrow
- burying beetle
- engulf
- entomb
- exhume
- grave
- gravlax
- hatchet
- housing
- immerse
- inhume
- inter
- inurn
- jointer
- lay
- mattamore
- overwhelm
- pantheonize
- pit
- plow
- rest
- sepulcher
- sepulchre
- sepulture
- sink
- snow
- steep
- submerge
- tomb