Definitions for burden
ˈbɜr dnbur·den

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. burden, load, encumbrance, incumbrance, onus(noun)

   an onerous or difficult concern

   "the burden of responsibility"; "that's a load off my mind"

2. load, loading, burden(noun)

   weight to be borne or conveyed

3. effect, essence, burden, core, gist(noun)

   the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work

4. burden(verb)

   the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse

5. burden, burthen, weight, weight down(verb)

   weight down with a load

6. charge, saddle, burden(verb)

   impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to

   "He charged her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend"

Wiktionary(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. burden(Noun)

   A heavy load.

2. burden(Noun)

   A responsibility, onus.

3. burden(Noun)

   A cause of worry.

4. burden(Noun)

   A phrase or theme that recurs at the end of each verse in a folk song or ballad; the drone of a bagpipe.

5. burden(Noun)

   Theme, core idea.

6. burden(Verb)

   To encumber with a burden (in any of the noun senses of the word).

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Burden(noun)

   that which is borne or carried; a load

2. Burden(noun)

   that which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive

3. Burden(noun)

   the capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry; as, a ship of a hundred tons burden

4. Burden(noun)

   the tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin

5. Burden(noun)

   the proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace

6. Burden(noun)

   a fixed quantity of certain commodities; as, a burden of gad steel, 120 pounds

7. Burden(noun)

   a birth

8. Burden(verb)

   to encumber with weight (literal or figurative); to lay a heavy load upon; to load

9. Burden(verb)

   to oppress with anything grievous or trying; to overload; as, to burden a nation with taxes

10. Burden(verb)

    to impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable)

11. Burden(noun)

    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

12. Burden(noun)

    the drone of a bagpipe

13. Burden(noun)

    a club

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Burden

   Burden is a city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 535.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Burden

   bur′dn, n. a load: weight: cargo: that which is grievous, oppressive, or difficult to bear, as blame, sin, sorrow, &c.: birth.—v.t. to load: to oppress: to encumber.—adjs. Bur′denous, Bur′densome, heavy: oppressive.—Burden of proof, in legal procedure, signifies the obligation to establish by evidence certain disputed facts. [A.S. byrthen—beran, to bear.]

2. Burden

   bur′dn, n. part of a song repeated at the end of every stanza, refrain: the leading idea of anything: a load of care, sorrow, or responsibility. [Fr. bourdon, a humming tone in music—Low L. burdo, a drone or non-working bee.]

3. Burden

   bur′dn, n. (Spens.) a pilgrim's staff. [See Bourdon.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. burden

   Is the quantity of contents or number of tons weight of goods or munitions which a ship will carry, when loaded to a proper sea-trim: and this is ascertained by certain fixed rules of measurement. The precise burden or burthen is about twice the tonnage, but then a vessel would be deemed deeply laden.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'burden' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3693

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'burden' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4603

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'burden' in Nouns Frequency: #1388

How to pronounce burden?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say burden in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of burden in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of burden in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of burden in a Sentence

1. Phillips Brooks:

   The truest help we can render an afflicted man is not to take his burden from him, but to call out his best energy, that he may be able to bear the burden.

2. Siviwe Gwarube:

   The DA is convinced that instead of being a vehicle to provide quality healthcare for all, this Bill will nationalize healthcare ... and be an additional tax burden to already financially-stretched South Africans.

3. Joan Goldstein:

   Everything is more expensive when sharing the burden with less people, when you bring on more people, you share the cost burden. A lot of government costs are fixed costs, you need more people to share those costs.

4. President Barack Obama:

   Bernie Sanders came in with the luxury of being a complete long shot and just letting loose, i think Hillary Clinton came in with the both privilege -- and burden -- of being perceived as the frontrunner... You're always looking at the bright, shiny object that people haven't seen before -- that's a disadvantage to Hillary Clinton.

5. James Longhurst:

   If the deliberate bypassing of emission control systems is more widespread than just VW diesel sales in the U.S., then it may help explain what has been observed in measurements of air pollution in cities, at this point we don't know the exact size of the problem, but it will, without doubt, have added to the health burden.

Images & Illustrations of burden

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