bury, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

bury v.

[all fig. uses of SE]

(orig. US)

1. to eat heartily.

1908

N.Y. World 12 July in Fleming Unforgettable Season (1981) 122: The way he buries that double-deck delicacy [i.e. strawberry shortcake] is a caution.

2. to condemn to a long spell in prison; ext. as bury deep; thus buried adj. (1)

1904		implied in buried adj. (1)
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win 96: If you do fall, the government don’t hang a lot of prior convictions on you and bury you. [Ibid.] 123: It’s enough to bury us both in Quentin.
1930		J. Lait Put on the Spot 36: I can take you so far and bury you so deep that sixty-four lawyers won’t dig you up in sixty-five days.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1953		J. Thompson Criminal (1993) 70: I imagine we’ll have to bury him.
a.1963		‘The Fall’ in D. Wepman et al. Life (1976) 86: But if this shit don’t cease, I’ll call the police / And bury your ass in jail.
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 6: The judge doesn’t want to bury you, but he’s under pressure.
1981		E. Bunker Little Boy Blue (1995) 122: If you cause trouble, we’ll send a report that’ll bury you.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 52: The LAPD were trying to bury him.

3. (US prison) to betray, to inform on.

1904		Number 1500 Life In Sing Sing 246: Buried. To cheat.
1931		G. Milburn ‘Convicts’ Jargon’ in AS VI:6 437: bury, v. To betray a friend. ‘I’ve seen many a Judas bury a pal.’.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 37/2: Bury. [...] 4. To betray; to testify against in court.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
2000		Lehr & O’Neill Black Mass 67: Ciulla had actually buried them, apparently, in his grand jury testimony.

4. (US) to hide.

1909		W. Irwin Confessions of a Con Man 70: The more he swore he was broke, the more I swore he had a bill buried.
1934		S. Walker City Editor 184: [T]he favored [electoral] candidate, although he may have little news, will have the preferred position on the front page, while the other one will be buried.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 37/2: Bury. [...] 3. To conceal; to hide.
1967		J. Breslin World of Jimmy Breslin (1968) 29: To hell with him. I hope you bury the sonofabitch.
1994		Mollen Report exhibit 8 10: Her information indicating large-scale corruption in the 75th Precinct was, in a word, buried.
2021		H. Joyce Trans 32: This chapter looks at the research into the origins of cross-sex feelings—and some of the reasons why transactivists have sought to bury it.

5. to kill, to murder.

1933		Ersine Und. and Prison Sl.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS 78/1: bury yourself! interj. drop dead!
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 86: ‘This Reggie and his two punks have to be buried—then we have a roundtable on you and Earl’.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 166: I won’t lose him to that chippie. I’ll bury her!
1996		(con. 1949) G. Pelecanos Big Blowdown (1999) 286: It’s a lead-pipe cinch that Stefanos and the rest of them buried Bender. So now we’ve got to save face and bury the Greeks.

6. (N.Z./US prison) to place in solitary confinement.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 37/2: Bury. [...] 2. (P) To commit to the segregation quarters for an indefinite stay.
1982		G. Newbold Big Huey 246: bury (v) Put in segregation.
1997		T. Fontana ‘Visits’Oz ser. 1 ep. 2 [TV script] If I find you had anything to do with this [i.e. a murder] I’m going to bury you so deep [...] she’ll never see your black ass again.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 34/2: bury v. to place an inmate in the segregation section of a prison.

7. to forget, to abandon.

1850		Worcs. Jrnl 21 Feb. 3/5: Anne Gullies, who was formerly Smith's chère amie but had ‘buried’—or, in other words, discarded her.
1959		‘Hal Ellson’ Jailbait Street (1963) 20: ‘I still go for you,’ she murmured [...] ‘Yeah, bury it. It’s all over’.

8. (US police) to beat up.

1973

L. Shecter On the Pad 136: His knuckles are all bruised from burying this guy.

9. to cause serious trouble for.

1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 132: He buried them all, one by one.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Bury. To overcome an adversary either in a fight or verbally.

10. to complain to, to be annoyed with.

1997

C. Newland Scholar 200: You bury me for not comin’ to check you.

SE in slang uses

In compounds

burying face (n.) (also churchyard face, ...look) [an expression suitable for a funeral]

a miserable face.

1656		R. Fletcher ‘Old Man Courting a Young Girle’ Epigrams & Poems 179: nymph. Think not thy Church-yard look shall moove My spring to be thy Winter’s Stove.
1877		J. Greenwood Dick Temple I 263: Your churchyard face is no ornament here, I can tell you.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.
1916		Bridgeport Eve. Farmer (CT) 26 May 23/2: He was a whining fellow with a churchyard face.

bury patch (n.)

see separate entry.

In phrases

bury... (v.)

see also under relevant n.

bury (it) (v.)

of a man, to have sexual intercourse; one of a number of terms relating to the penis in the act.

1889		C. Deveureux Venus in India I 26: I was eager to get between her lovely thighs, and to snatch my almost painfully strained prick from her hands, and bury it up to its balls, and further, in this melting charm.
c.1930		‘The Amorous Mrs. Twirp’ [comic strip] in B. Adelman Tijuana Bibles (1997) 47: The hottest piece of nookie that ever buried a stiff.
c.1940		‘Gandi Has Them Handy’ [comic strip] in B. Adelman Tijuana Bibles (1997) 128: Come on Matty, bury it.
1959		E. De Roo Go, Man, Go! 14: Now that you’ve laid me out, when you gonna bury me?
1960		(con. 1940s) G. Morrill Dark Sea Running 28: She was a lovely woman [...] And I had been buried in her for three hours the night before.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.

bury old fagin (v.)

see under fagan n.

bury the fang (v.)

see under fang n. (5)

bury the hatchet (v.) (also bury the tomahawk) [the hatchet as a symbol of hostility; 20C+ use is SE]

to make up one’s differences; thus dig up/take up the hatchet, to renew hostilities.

1754		Mass. H.S. Collection 3 Ser. V. 10: We have ordered [...] our Governor of New York to hold an interview with them for delivering those presents [and] for burying the hatchet [DA].
1775		J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 315: We in a few days packed up a sufficient quantity [of presents], to bury the tomahawk which the French had thrust into their unwilling hands.
1804		H.H. Brackenridge Modern Chivalry (1937) Pt II Vol. I Bk II 409: There was some talk of brightening the chain, and burying the hatchet.
1807		Annals 10th Congress I Sess. I 617: I had long been persecuted by the General, but wished to bury the hatchet [DA].
1811		Niles’ Register I 311/2: Certain deputations from the northern tribes lately visited the southern Indians to induce them to unbury the tomahawk [DA].
1812		Boston Gazette 17 Dec. n.p.: What has provoked them of late to dig up the hatchet they had so long buried? [DA].
1839		J.F. Cooper Pathfinder (1843) 174: I’m as ready to bury the hatchet with the Mingos as with the French.
1857		Grand River Times (Grand Haven, MI) 30 Sept. 2: Bury the hatchet, bury it low; / Under the greensward, under the snow.
1866		C.H. Smith Bill Arp 162: If they had held out the hand of fellowship, we would have made friends and buried the hatchet.
1873		Carleton Ballads n.p.: I told her we’d bury the hatchet alongside of the cow; / And we struck an agreement never to have another row [F&H].
1873		J. Mair Hbk of Phrases 106: Hatchet, Bury the, to make peace [...] Hatchet, Dig up the, to commence a war.
1882		Illinois Republican 15 Nov. 1/5: Now that the election is over, let us all, republicans, democrats and bolters, bury the hatchet, handle and all [DA].
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 35: Hatchet, ‘to bury the hatchet,’ to forget old grievances.
1896		Harper’s Mag. 709/2: All the tribes of the upper lakes had taken up the tomahawk [DA].
1897		A.H. Lewis Wolfville 274: Red Dog sends its comps, an’ asks Wolfville to bury the hatchet for one day in honor of to-morrow bein’ Thanks givin’.
1943		‘Myles na gCopaleen’ Faustus Kelly in ‘Flann O’Brien’ Stories & Plays (1973) 134: All the same, I don’t see why they don’t bury the hatchet and forget their differences.

bury the landlady (v.)

to leave one’s lodgings without paying the rent.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 161/2: C.19–early 20.