burden

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  Photo of a Burden Bearer
• WordNet 3.6
  • v burden impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to "He charged her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend"
  • v burden weight down with a load
  • n burden weight to be borne or conveyed
  • n burden an onerous or difficult concern "the burden of responsibility","that's a load off my mind"
  • n burden the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse
  • n burden the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work
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Additional illustrations & photos:

The giant bird did not seem to notice its burden at all

• Interesting fact: In the name of art, Chris Burden arranged to be shot by a friend while another person photographed the event. He sold the series of pictures to an art dealer. He made $1750 on the deal, but his hospital bill was $84,000.
• • Burden A birth.
  • n Burden A club.
  • Burden A fixed quantity of certain commodities; as, a burden of gad steel, 120 pounds.
  • Burden That which is borne or carried; a load. "Plants with goodly burden bowing."
  • Burden That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive. "Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone,
    To all my friends a burden grown."
  • Burden The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry; as, a ship of a hundred tons burden .
  • Burden The drone of a bagpipe.
  • Burden (Metal) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.
  • Burden (Mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
  • Burden The verse repeated in a song, or the return of the theme at the end of each stanza; the chorus; refrain. Hence: That which is often repeated or which is dwelt upon; the main topic; as, the burden of a prayer. "I would sing my song without a burden ."
  • Burden To encumber with weight (literal or figurative); to lay a heavy load upon; to load. "I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened ."
  • Burden To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable). "It is absurd to burden this act on Cromwell."
  • Burden To oppress with anything grievous or trying; to overload; as, to burden a nation with taxes. "My burdened heart would break."
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• Interesting fact: On November 23, 1835, Henry Burden of Troy, New York, developed the first machine for manufacturing horseshoes. Burden later oversaw the production of most of the horseshoes used by the Union cavalry during the Civil War.
• • n burden That which is borne or carried; a load.
  • n burden Hence That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive; also, an incumbrance of any kind.
  • n burden In England, a quantity of certain commodities: as, a burden of gad-steel (that is, 120 or 180 pounds).
  • n burden The capacity of a ship; the quantity or number of tons of freight a vessel will carry: as, a ship of 600 tons burden.
  • n burden In mining, the tops or heads of stream-work, overlying the stream of tin, and needing to be first cleansed.
  • n burden The charge of a blast-furnace.
  • burden To load; lay a heavy load on; encumber with weight.
  • burden Hence Figuratively, to load; oppress with anything which is borne with difficulty or trouble; surcharge: as, to burden a nation with taxes; to burden the memory with details.
  • burden To lay or impose upon one, as a load, burden, or charge.
  • n burden The act of bearing children; a birth.
  • n burden The bass in music.
  • n burden In music: The refrain or recurring chorus at the end of the stanzas of a ballad or song; a refrain.
  • n burden The drone of a bagpipe. The song to which a dance is danced when there are no instruments.
  • n burden That which is often repeated; a subject on which one dwells; the main topic: as, this subject was the burden of all his talk.
  • n burden A club.
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• • n Burden bur′dn a load: weight: cargo: that which is grievous, oppressive, or difficult to bear, as blame, sin, sorrow, &c.: birth
  • v.t Burden to load: to oppress: to encumber
  • n Burden bur′dn part of a song repeated at the end of every stanza, refrain: the leading idea of anything: a load of care, sorrow, or responsibility.
  • n Burden bur′dn (Spens.) a pilgrim's staff.
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• Chinese Proverb

  

  “If your strength is small, don't carry heavy burdens. If your words are worthless, don't give advice.”
• George Herbert

  

  “None knows the weight of another's burden.”
• Yiddish Proverb

  

  “God gave burdens, also shoulders.”
• Sir Philip Sidney

  

  “It is the nature of the strong heart, that like the palm tree it strives ever upwards when it is most burdened.”
• Voltaire

  

  “What a heavy burden is a name that has become famous too soon.”
• Jean De La Bruyere

  

  “The first day one is a guest, the second a burden, and the third a pest.”

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