burden
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a duty or responsibility that is hard to deal with.
n.a duty, responsibility, or emotional weight that is difficult to bear.
Simple“The cost of the new house became a heavy financial burden for the family.”
In context“The administrative burden placed upon the teaching staff has increased significantly since the introduction of the new assessment protocols.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a physical load that is heavy to carry.
n.a physical load or weight being carried.
Simple“The donkey struggled to walk under the heavy burden of the wood.”
In context“The porters distributed the burden equally among the team to ensure they could reach the base camp before nightfall.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
n.the total amount of something harmful, like a virus or poison, in a body.
n.the total quantity of a harmful substance, parasite, or pathogen present in an organism.
Simple“The doctor checked the patient's viral burden to see if the medicine was working.”
In context“The study aimed to quantify the total body burden of heavy metals in the local population following the industrial accident.”
Synonyms - 04 C2 Proficiency
n.the main idea or a part of a song that repeats.
n.a recurring theme or the chorus of a song; the central idea of a piece of writing.
Simple“The burden of his speech was that we must all work together.”
In context“The haunting burden of the ballad was repeated by the choir after every stanza, creating a sense of inevitable tragedy.”
- 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to give someone a difficult job or a lot of things to carry.
v.to load someone with a physical or figurative weight; to encumber.
Simple“I don't want to burden you with my problems while you are on holiday.”
In context“The company was heavily burdened by debt, making it difficult to attract new investors for the expansion project.”
Usage additional burden · economic burden · reduce burden
“Overall, 86.2% said the heatwave placed a physical burden on them, with 45.2% (242 players) answering “very much so” and 41% (220 players) answering “yes”.”
“Many singles face extra costs for housing, bills, food and holidays but there are ways to ease the burden.”
Inherited from Middle English burden, birden, burthen, birthen, byrthen, 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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.