burden Hear it!

burden¹ Definition

bur·den (bʉrd′'n)

noun

  1. anything that is carried; load
  2. anything one has to bear or put up with; heavy load, as of work, duty, responsibility, or sorrow
  3. the carrying of loads a beast of burden
  4. the carrying capacity of a ship

Etymology: ME birthen < OE byrthen, akin to ON byrthr, a load: for IE base see bear

transitive verb

to put a burden on; load; weigh down; oppress
burden² Definition

bur·den (bʉrd′'n)

noun

  1. Archaic a bass accompaniment in music
  2. a chorus or refrain of a song
  3. the drone of a bagpipe
  4. a repeated, central idea; theme the burden of a speech

Etymology: ME burdoun, bass in music, refrain < OFr bourdon, a humming, buzzing < ML burdo, wind instrument, bumblebee; of echoic orig.

burden Synonyms

burden

n.

  1. Something carried

    load, weight, freight, pack; see freight 1, load 1, package 1.

  2. Anything hard to support or endure

    encumbrance, trouble, thorn in the flesh, onus, weary load, heavy load, weight, millstone, albatross around one's neck, cross to bear, impediment, imposition, inconvenience, hardship, trial, strain, responsibility; see also affliction, difficulty 2, duty 2, misfortune 1.

burden Synonyms

burden

v.

weigh down, encumber, cumber, oppress, overwhelm, hinder, hamper, strain, load with, saddle with, task with, handicap, obligate, lade, tax, charge, overtask, afflict, vex, try, trouble, pile, overcharge, overburden, bear down, bog down, crush, depress, impede, overload, overtax, load down with, make heavy; see also force 1, hinder, oppress.

Antonyms lighten*, relieve*, unload.

burden Law Definition

n

  1. A duty, obligation, or responsibility.
  2. Something that causes anxiety or is grievous or oppressive.
  3. In property law, anything that encumbers or restrict the use or value of land, such as an easement, restrictive covenant, or zoning ordinance. The burden indefinitely binds the current and all future owners until it is extinguished, so it is the land, and the landowner, that is burdened by the encumbrance or restriction. See estate.
burden Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • proof: The burden of proof lies with the code sponsor.
  • taxation: The burden of taxation on home owners is now horrendous.
  • guilt: Not only did I have no artifacts: now I had a burden of guilt.
  • debt: These are the students who face enough barriers without the added burden of debt.
  • bureaucracy: We aim to take the burden of bureaucracy from you, along with any worries it can cause.

Converse of object

  • impose: The drought economy has been particularly harsh on women, imposing multiple burdens on them.
  • ease: The study suggests the new penalty would essentially amount to a ticket, easing the burden on the justice system.
  • reduce: Such a move would hugely reduce the burden on external markers, he said.
  • lighten: This could lighten the administrative burden for businesses when accounting for VAT.
  • bear: The burden borne by the people of Northern Ireland is heavier than most people outside the island realize.
  • relieve: Plenty more fish in the sea Increase in fish farming relieves burden on the ocean's resources The aquaculture industry is expanding.

Adjective modifier

  • administrative: The sector should help funders to reduce the administrative burden where possible.
  • regulatory: Ofcom must also: Remove regulatory burdens were possible.
  • unnecessary: This may place unnecessary burdens on the public right.
  • bureaucratic: We will be seeking ways of stripping away bureaucratic burdens on staff.
  • undue: It would also place undue burdens on the smaller members.
  • heavy: Soon these council meetings became a heavy burden to me.

Preposition: on

  • taxpayer: Yet in his Foreword, the Minister writes of the need to avoid any additional burden on the taxpayer.

Noun used with modifier

  • debt: A debt consolidation loan can reduce your debt burden to a large extent.
  • tax: Tax burden Above all, there's the problem of taxation.
burden Quotes

   With aching hands and bleeding feet We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; We bear the burden and the heat Of the long day, and wish 'twere done. Not till the hours of light return, All we have built do we discern.

—Arnold, Matthew

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and Iwill give you rest.Takemy yokeuponyou, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

—Bible (NewTestament)

The West has not lived through totalitarianism, with a single ideology for 70 years.We are escaping from the burden of the past, and onlyafter we have done that will we be ready to integrate with Europeöand Europe needs Russia.

—Yeltsin, Boris

I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish, without the help and support of the woman I love.

—Edward VIII

The day must come when the nation's whole scale of living must be reduced. If that day comes,Parliament must lay the burden equally on all classes.

—Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer

We can applaud the state lottery as a public subsidy of intelligence, for it yields public income that is calculated to lighten the tax burden of us prudent abstainers at the expense of the benighted masses of wishful thinkers.

—Quine,Willard Van Orman

It wasn't a matterof becoming interested inmusic; music isa gift and a burden I'vehad since Icanremember who I was. I was born into music. The decision was how to make the best use of it.

—Simone, Nina pseudonym of  Eunice Waymon

A soldier's pack is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner's chains.

—Eisenhower, Dwight D(avid)

If you take the wrong course†the President bears the 462 burden of the responsibility quite rightly. The advisers may move onöto new advice.

—Kennedy,John F(itzgerald)

Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is.

—Mitchell, Margaret

   Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny: they have only shifted it to another shoulder.

—Shaw, George Bernard

A grateful mind By owing owes not, but still pays, at once Indebted and discharged; what burden then?

—Milton,John

Take up the White Man's burdenö Send forth the best ye breedö Go, bind your sons to exile To serve your captives'need.

—Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard

This business of womanhood is a heavy burden† And these days it is worse, with the poverty of blackness on one side and the weight of womanhood on the other.

—Dangarembga,Tsitsi

   Words strain, Crack and sometimes break, under the burden, Under the tension, slip, slide, perish, Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place, Will not stay still.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)