bury one's head in the sand
i verb (used with object)
1.
to put in the ground and cover with earth: The pirates buried the chest on the island.
2.
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.
3.
to plunge in deeply; cause to sink in: to bury an arrow in a target.
4.
to cover in order to conceal from sight: She buried the card in the deck.
5.
to immerse (oneself): He buried himself in his work.
6.
to put out of one's mind: to bury an insult.
7.
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.
noun
8.
00:10
Bury one's head in the sand
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
9.
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.
10.
bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited.
Origin:
before 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
before 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
Related forms
half-bur·ied, adjective
re·bur·y, verb (used with object), re·bur·ied, re·bur·y·ing.
un·bur·ied, adjective
well-bur·ied, adjective
Synonyms
2. inter, entomb, inhume. 4. hide, secrete.
2. inter, entomb, inhume. 4. hide, secrete.
Antonyms
2. disinter, exhume. 4. uncover.
2. disinter, exhume. 4. uncover.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To bury one's head in the sand
Collins
World English Dictionary
bury (ˈbɛrɪ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb , buries, burying, buried | |
| 1. | to place (a corpse) in a grave, usually with funeral rites; inter |
| 2. | to place in the earth and cover with soil |
| 3. | to lose through death |
| 4. | to cover from sight; hide |
| 5. | to embed; sink: to bury a nail in plaster |
| 6. | to occupy (oneself) with deep concentration; engross: to be buried in a book |
| 7. | to dismiss from the mind; abandon: to bury old hatreds |
| 8. | bury the hatchet to cease hostilities and become reconciled |
| 9. | bury one's head in the sand to refuse to face a problem |
| [Old English byrgan to bury, hide; related to Old Norse bjarga to save, preserve, Old English beorgan to defend] | |
| Bury (ˈbɛrɪ) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a town in NW England, in Bury unitary authority, Greater Manchester: an early textile centre. Pop: 60 178 (2001) |
| 2. | a unitary authority in NW England, in Greater Manchester. Pop: 181 900 (2003 est). Area: 99 sq km (38 sq miles) |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
bury
O.E. byrgan "to raise a mound, hide, bury, inter," akin to beorgan "to shelter," from P.Gmc. *burzjanan "protection, shelter" (cf. O.N. bjarga, Sw. berga, Ger. bergen, Goth. bairgan "to save, preserve"), from PIE base *bhergh- "protect, preserve" (cf. O.C.S. brego "I preserve, guard"). The O.E. -y- was
a short "oo" sound, like modern Fr. -u-. It normally transformed into Mod.Eng. -i- (cf. bridge, kiss, listen, sister), but in bury and a few other words (merry, knell) it retains a Kentish change to "e" that took place in the late O.E. period. In the West Midlands, meanwhile, the O.E. -y- sound persisted, slightly modified over time, giving the standard modern pronunciation of blush, much, church.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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