1. Something that is carried. 2a. Something that is emotionally difficult to bear. b. A source of great worry or stress; weight: The burden of economic sacrifice rests on the workers of the plant.3. A responsibility or duty: The burden of organizing the campaign fell to me.4.Nauticala. The amount of cargo that a vessel can carry. b. The weight of the cargo carried by a vessel at one time.
TRANSITIVE VERB:
Inflected forms: bur·dened, bur·den·ing, bur·dens 1. To weigh down; oppress. 2. To load or overload.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English byrthen. See bher-1 in Appendix I.
SYNONYMS:
burden1, affliction, cross, trial, tribulation These nouns denote something onerous or troublesome: the burden of a guilty conscience; indebtedness that is an affliction; a temper that is her cross; a troublemaker who is a trial to the teacher; suffered many tribulations in rising from poverty. See also synonyms at substance.
bûr
dn
