Meaning

13 senses
  1. A heavy load.

    Belastung, Last, Bürde

    но́шаnóša, грузgruz, покла́жаpokláža

    тяга́рtjahár, но́шаnóša, ванта́жvantáž

  2. A responsibility, onus.

    Belastung, Last, Bürde

    бре́мяbrémja, тя́жестьtjážestʹ, нагру́зкаnagrúzka

    тяга́рtjahár, вагота́vahotá, ва́жкістьvážkistʹ

  3. A cause of worry; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.

    c. 1710-1730, Jonathan Swift, The Dean's Complaint Translated and Answered Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone, / To all my friends a burden grown.

    Sorge, Bürde, Kummer

    бре́мяbrémja, обу́заobúza

  4. The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry.

    a ship of a hundred tons burden

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

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

  7. A fixed quantity of certain commodities.

    A burden of gad steel is 120 pounds.

  8. The total amount of toxins, parasites, cancer cells, plaque or similar present in an organism.

  9. The distance between rows of blastholes parallel to the major free face (i.e. face of the excavation)

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

  11. The drone of a bagpipe.

  12. A theme, a core idea.

    the burden of the argument

More definitions
  • an onerous or difficult concern
  • the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse
  • weight to be borne or conveyed
  • the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work

Examples

200 sentences
  1. He was a burden to his parents.

    Він був тягарем для батьків.

    ruОн был бременем для своих родителей.

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  2. I can't burden Tom with that problem.

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  3. I can't burden Tom with that responsibility.

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  4. I didn't want to be a burden.

    ruЯ не хотел быть обузой.

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  5. Tom was a burden to his parents.

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Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 2
heavy load:
responsibility, onus:
Русский
By meaning 3
heavy load:
responsibility, onus:
cause of worry:
Deutsch
By meaning 3
heavy load:
responsibility, onus:
cause of worry:

Origin

Inherited from Middle English birthene, birthen, birden, from Old English byrden, byrþen,

Inherited from Middle English birthene, birthen, birden, from Old English byrden, byrþen, from Proto-West Germanic *burþini, from *burþī, from Proto-Germanic *burþį̄, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”).

Inherited from Middle English burdoun (“accompaniment”), from Old French bordon (“drone”), from Medieval Latin burdō. Doublet of bourdon.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: burdens

Synonyms

9 synonyms
Close in meaning

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
burden — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto