English statesman famous for his oratory; pleaded the cause of the American colonists in British Parliament and defended the parliamentary system (1729-1797)
get rid of, silence, or suppress; "burke an issue"
kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air; "he tried to strangle his opponent"; "A man in Boston has been strangling several dozen prostitutes"
conceal or hide; "smother a yawn"; "muffle one's anger"; "strangle a yawn"
envelop completely; "smother the meat in gravy"
deprive of the oxygen necessary for combustion; "smother fires"
deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; "Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor"
form an impenetrable cover over; "the butter cream smothered the cake"