Meaning & use
bury
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To place a dead person's body in the ground, or to lay it to rest at sea, as part of a funeral.
Grammar: Takes an object: they buried her father beside the chapel.
Patterns
- bury someone in a place
- be buried at sea
He was buried next to his wife in the village cemetery.
They buried her at sea, as she had wished.
verbtransitive
To cover something with earth, stones, or another material so that it cannot be seen.
Grammar: Takes an object; usually followed by in or under: buried under the snow.
Patterns
- bury something in the ground
- bury something under something
The dog buried the bone in the garden.
The landslide buried the road under tons of rock.
verbtransitivefigurative
To hide thoughts, feelings, or information, or to place them where they will not be noticed.
Grammar: The figurative object is often a feeling or a fact: bury the truth, bury old memories.
Patterns
- bury a memory or feeling
- bury something in the middle of something
She tried to bury the memory of that day.
The newspaper buried the story on page ten.
Word forms
| third person singular | buries |
|---|---|
| past tense | buried |
| past participle | buried |
| -ing form | burying |
Common combinations
- bury the hatchet
- After years of rivalry, the two firms decided to bury the hatchet.
- buried treasure
- The children dreamed of finding buried treasure on the island.
- bury yourself in work
- After the breakup, he buried himself in work.
- buried under paperwork
- I'm buried under paperwork this week.
- bury your face in your hands
- She buried her face in her hands and laughed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inter
- Formal and used only for placing a body in a grave or tomb.
- conceal
- A general word for hiding something; bury adds the idea of covering deeply or placing out of sight.
- hide
- The everyday word; bury is more specific, suggesting covering with material or pushing out of attention.
Opposites
Word family
- burial noun
- The act or ceremony of putting a body into the ground.
- burying ground noun
- An older word for a cemetery.
Commonly confused: bury or berry?
bury vs berry
Berry is a small fruit (plural berries); bury is the verb meaning to put in the ground or cover. They sound alike for many speakers.
Practice
After the long argument, they finally decided to ___ the hatchet.
Choose one answer.
'Bury the hatchet' is the idiom meaning to end a conflict; 'dig up' would suggest restarting it, and 'plant' or 'hide' do not form this expression.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bury”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.