1A load, typically a heavy one.

1. 1.1A duty or misfortune that causes hardship, anxiety, or grief; a nuisance.
   ‘the burden of long-term illness’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Home affordability for those unfortunates who aren't on the ladder must be an absolute disaster given the tax burden and low wages.’
   • ‘That was a huge burden of stress, worry, and cost for the small business that I worked for.’
   • ‘And whichever names you dress it up with or rationales used to justify it, it's a fancy way to describe putting more of the tax burden on middle income earners.’
   • ‘The Treasury also claims that it is difficult to measure the burden of indirect taxes on different types of households, adding that no reliable figures are available!’
   • ‘Irksome burdens lighten and niggling worries vanish, when friends rally round to help us see life in its true perspective.’
   • ‘They offer us a shoulder to cry on and place a comforting arm around our shoulders to lighten the burden of sorrow and misfortune.’
   • ‘Probably, at least in the years immediately ahead, the bulk of his physique will be less of a worry than the burden of celebrity he will have to carry.’
   • ‘Women in both urban and rural areas carry the burden of domestic duties and child care in addition to working outside the home.’
   • ‘By paying the taxes, you will one day inherit the home without the burden of the tax liability.’
   • ‘He did not simply confess their sin - he felt its burden with deep distress.’
   • ‘In line with EU requirements however, the Cabinet will continue to expand the burden of excise duties on alcohol and cigarettes, and possibly fuels too.’
   • ‘It was a combat tour during another war, one that saw our nation's best and bravest assume the burden of selfless duty to God, and liberty, and country.’
   • ‘Most doctors, though, loaded with heavy clinical burdens, seldom have the time for such reviews.’
   • ‘One way or another, it is the rare dollar of corporate profits that bears a tax burden heavier than the burden on an employee's wages.’
   • ‘As president, Susilo bears a heavy burden, charged as he is with protecting his people, as he tries to make Indonesia more attractive to foreign investors.’
   • ‘Expectation can be a heavy burden to carry - but the weight of no expectation is greater still.’
   • ‘As the caretakers of this Earth, our people have been charged with a heavy burden.’
   • ‘Accommodation charges are deemed to be the heaviest burden on students finances, and are most often cited as a major factor in choice of university.’
   • ‘This time, however, he's charged with a heavier burden as the deputy prime minister in charge of the national economy.’
   • ‘The burden of his guilt was heavier than the burden of his shame.’
   Synonyms

   responsibility, onus, charge, duty, obligation, liability

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2. 1.2The main responsibility for achieving a specified aim or task.
   ‘the burden of establishing that the cost was unreasonable’
   More example sentences

   • ‘She labored under the arduous burden of trying to achieve clarity at a time when the government places an understandably high premium on secrecy.’
   • ‘Unfortunately, the burden of this task - of displaying to the world such terrifying conditions - proves too much for the film.’
   • ‘Many very poor countries today shoulder the main burden of sheltering the millions who flee war, persecution, environmental devastation and hunger.’
   • ‘But the burden for achieving national unity is on a president who could manage a narrow victory only by savagely trashing his opponent.’
   • ‘The Tories, most likely to have the main burden of opposition, look at least as unprepared for that responsibility as they appear to be for taking over government.’
   • ‘Since Nasser's Suez grab the Egyptian frontier has been relatively quiet; the main burden of daily harassment has passed to Jordan.’
   • ‘With the expansion of the Union's tasks, the burden of adjustment has grown for each successive wave of accession.’
   • ‘The common belief that the British were obliged to shoulder the main burden of World War I is a historical travesty.’
   • ‘If, as the polls tell us, a Labour-led administration is going to be returned at Holyrood then a burden of responsibility falls on Jack McConnell over the next short period.’
   • ‘Indeed, older women bear the main burden of the search for firewood, as areas outside the camps are not safe for younger women and girls, who become the targets of the Janjaweed militias.’
   • ‘Should the burden of responsibility for public safety be shoved on to a single developer?’
   • ‘The burden of proving that the ship was not seaworthy and that unseaworthiness caused or contributed to the loss or damage complained of, lies on the defendants.’
   • ‘The Court of Appeal in Wilson was surely right to declare that the burden of finding strong arguments should lie on those who wish to criminalize consensual conduct, not on those who wish it to be lawful.’
   • ‘But now the burden is on the sceptic to formulate an argument that does not depend on the doctrine.’
   • ‘Would the proposal be that you will carry the burden in the first instance of the argument against the Minister in those two appeals?’
   • ‘Especially in cases of free speech, shouldn't the burden be on the plaintiff to prove infringement?’
   • ‘They both raise the issue of whether the burden should shift to the defendant and if so to what standard.’
   • ‘In this situation, the burden of convening a meeting falls on the shareholders.’
   • ‘Significantly, the burden of proving innocence is reversed, because it is presumed until the contrary is shown that the defendant did not have the relevant knowledge.’
   Synonyms

   job, duty, chore, charge, labour, piece of work, piece of business, assignment, function, commission, mission, engagement, occupation, undertaking, exercise, business, responsibility, errand, detail, endeavour, enterprise, venture, quest, problem, burden

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3. 1.3A ship's carrying capacity; tonnage.
   ‘the schooner Wyoming, of about 6,000 tons burden’
   More example sentences

   • ‘The one enjoyed by certain French ports over colonial trade was virtually abandoned when all ports capable of accommodating ships of 100 tons' burden were included in the list.’
   • ‘They were as large as any wooden ships ever built, as much as two thousand tons burden; a French king had a tennis court installed in one.’
   • ‘Each of these vessels was fourteen tons burden and plied the same route as those owned by Barlow.’

2the burdenThe main theme or gist of a speech, book, or argument.

3 archaic The refrain or chorus of a song.

1Load heavily.

1. 1.1Cause (someone) hardship or distress.
   ‘they were not yet burdened with adult responsibility’
   More example sentences

   • ‘They shouldn't worry about burdening us with calls, that's what we're there for.’
   • ‘Your other children, in particular, may try to deal with their pain alone so as not to burden you with additional worries.’
   • ‘Yet when he's hurt he pulls away, not wanting to burden anyone with his worries.’
   • ‘Besides it being unfair and immature for adults to burden children with such an assignment, taking these messages into the schools is both illogical and ineffective.’
   • ‘Their pain does not allow them to see how much the increased financial responsibility burdens the men.’
   • ‘He hates you for ruining his life, by burdening him with a responsibility that his weak male ego was unable to bear.’
   • ‘Some people find it easier to talk to an anonymous stranger about their worries and fears than to burden a family member or friend.’
   • ‘Liz, who suffers from burnout, tells of a neighbor who burdens her with a harrowing tale of Vietnam.’
   • ‘Often, they explained, children won't reveal their worries because they don't want to burden their parents.’
   • ‘The role prevents women in senior positions from burdening other people with their problems.’
   • ‘Jacob urged all regional administrations not to further burden the displaced people and to allow their children to be exempt from school tuition fees.’
   • ‘Back in those days, I didn't want to burden other people with my pain.’
   • ‘You feel burdened by too much work or responsibility, its best to share and delegate work and not carry the entire load yourself.’
   • ‘Next they don't want their deaths to burden their families or leave responsibilities unresolved.’
   • ‘Unfortunately we are burdened by a new system which requires an executive to respond to scrutiny proposals.’
   • ‘Don't burden him with chores, as this could further his stress.’
   • ‘In the worst cases angina had a devastating impact on quality of life, leaving patients in a state of ‘hopelessness and pain’ and also severely burdening families and health services.’
   • ‘But I think at this stage, we're better off taking the risk and hitting the traffickers than burdening the farmers with a major eradication program.’
   • ‘There was a well-publicised spat with sports writers whom he claimed were burdening him with too much attention for a tennis player ranked in the 40-somethings.’
   • ‘You know, a prosecutor can put this together, and argue that he knew something was going to happen, so he would no longer have that life that was burdening him.’
   Synonyms

   oppress, trouble, cause trouble to, cause suffering to

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