Plants with goodly burden bowing. --Shak.
2. That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which
is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive.
Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone, To all my friends
a burden grown. --Swift.
3. The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she
will carry; as, a ship of a hundred tons burden.
4. (Mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over
the stream of tin.
5. (Metal.) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the
charge of a blast furnace. --Raymond.
6. A fixed quantity of certain commodities; as, a burden of
gad steel, 120 pounds.
7. A birth. [Obs. & R.] --Shak.
{Beast of burden}, an animal employed in carrying burdens.
{Burden of proof} [L. onus probandi] (Law), the duty of
proving a particular position in a court of law, a failure
in the performance of which duty calls for judgment
against the party on whom the duty is imposed.
Usage: A burden is, in the literal sense, a weight to be
borne; a load is something laid upon us to be carried.
Hence, when used figuratively, there is usually a
difference between the two words. Our burdens may be
of such a nature that we feel bound to bear them
cheerfully or without complaint. They may arise from
the nature of our situation; they may be allotments of
Providence; they may be the consequences of our
errors. What is upon us, as a load, we commonly carry
with greater reluctance or sense of oppression. Men
often find the charge of their own families to be a
burden; but if to this be added a load of care for
others, the pressure is usually serve and irksome.
I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened.
--2 Cor. viii.
13.
2. To oppress with anything grievous or trying; to overload;
as, to burden a nation with taxes.
My burdened heart would break. --Shak.
3. To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a
burden (something heavy or objectionable). [R.]
It is absurd to burden this act on Cromwell.
--Coleridge.
Syn: To load; encumber; overload; oppress.
I would sing my song without a burden. --Shak.
2. The drone of a bagpipe. --Ruddiman.