1. • noun - an onerous or difficult concern
   • noun - weight to be borne or conveyed
   • noun - the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work
   • noun - the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse
   • verb - weight down with a load
   • verb - impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to
2. • Something that is carried.
   • Something that is emotionally difficult to bear.
   • A source of great worry or stress; weight: The burden of economic sacrifice rests on the workers of the plant.
   • A responsibility or duty: The burden of organizing the campaign fell to me.
   • Nautical.
   • The amount of cargo that a vessel can carry.
   • The weight of the cargo carried by a vessel at one time.
   • To weigh down; oppress.
   • The central meaning shared by these nouns is “something that is onerous or troublesome”: the burden of a guilty conscience; indebtedness that is an affliction; illness that is her cross; sitting still, a trial to the very young; domestic tribulations.
   • A principal or recurring idea; a theme: “The burden of what he said was to defend enthusiastically the conservative aristocracy” (J.
   • Music.
   • The chorus or refrain of a composition.
   • The drone of a bagpipe.
   • The bass accompaniment to a song.
3. • v - to load heavily

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