Burden1. (n.) That which is borne or carried; a load.
2. (n.) That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
3. (n.) The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry; as, a ship of a hundred tons burden.
4. (n.) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin.
5. (n.) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace.
6. (n.) A fixed quantity of certain commodities; as, a burden of gad steel, 120 pounds.
7. (n.) A birth.
8. (v. t.) To encumber with weight (literal or figurative); to lay a heavy load upon; to load.
9. (v. t.) To oppress with anything grievous or trying; to overload; as, to burden a nation with taxes.
10. (v. t.) To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable).
11. (n.) 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. (n.) The drone of a bagpipe.
13. (n.) A club.
Thesaurus Entries
Spenserian stanza, accommodation, add, adjoin, affix, afflict, affliction, agglutinate, agitate, albatross, allegiance, amount, anacrusis, annex, antistrophe, append, arraignability, arraignableness, assigned task, attach, bag, bale, bane, barrel, basis, bass, bass passage, bear down on, bear hard upon, bis, bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, blameworthiness, bloody hands, bob, body, book, bother, bottle, bounden duty, bourdon, box, bridge, bugbear, burden of care, burden with, burdening, burthen, business, busy, cadence, calamity, call of duty, can, cankerworm of care, canto, capacity, care, cargo, carload, cartload, case, censurability, censurableness, chant, chapter, charge, chargeability, charging, chest voice, chorus, clog, coda, coloratura, commitment, complicate, complicity, concern, conjoin, content, cordage, couplet, cramp, crate, criminality, cripple, cross, crown of thorns, crush one, crushing burden, culpability, cumber, cumbrance, curse, deadweight, death, decorate, dedication, deference, demand, destruction, development, devoir, devotion, difficulty, dirty hands, disadvantage, discomfort, disease, disquiet, distich, distress, disturb, ditto, division, drag, drive, drone, drone bass, duties and responsibilities, duty, embarrass, embarrassment, encumber, encumbrance, enjoin, enmesh, ensnarl, entangle, entoil, entrammel, entrap, entwine, envoi, epode, essence, ethics, evil, exact, exhaust, exposition, fag, falsetto, fasten upon, fealty, fetter, figure, fill, focus of attention, focus of interest, folderol, freight, freight with, gall, gall and wormwood, gist, glue on, go hard with, go ill with, gravamen, grievance, guilt, guiltiness, guilty conscience, hamper, hamstring, handicap, harm, harmonic close, haul, haunt, haunt the memory, head, head voice, heading, heap, heap up, heptastich, hexastich, hitch on, hobble, homage, impeachability, impeachableness, impede, impediment, impedimenta, imperative, implication, impose, impose on, impose upon, imposition, inconvenience, incubus, inculpation, incumbency, indictability, indictableness, infix, inflict on, inflict upon, infliction, interlude, intermezzo, introductory phrase, involve, involvement, issue, join with, keep busy, lade, lading, lame, lay, lay on, levy, lie on, lime, limit, line, line of duty, living issue, load, load with care, loading, loyalty, lumber, main point, mass, matter, matter in hand, measure, meat, millstone, mission, monostich, motif, motive, movement, musical phrase, musical sentence, must, nemesis, net, obligation, obsess, octastich, octave, octet, onus, open wound