n. [ F. bourdelais, prob. fr. bordelais. See Bordelais. ] A sort of grape. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Written also burthen. ] [ OE. burden, burthen, birthen, birden, AS. byrðen; akin to Icel. byrði, Dan. byrde, Sw. börda, G. bürde, OHG. burdi, Goth. baúrþei, fr. the root of E. bear, AS. beran, Goth. bairan. √92. See 1st Bear. ] 1. That which is borne or carried; a load. [ 1913 Webster ]

Plants with goodly burden bowing. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone,
To all my friends a burden grown. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry; as, a ship of a hundred tons burden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mining) The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Metal.) The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A fixed quantity of certain commodities; as, a burden of gad steel, 120 pounds. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A birth. [ Obs. & R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Burden, Load. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Burdened p. pr. & vb. n. Burdening ] 1. To encumber with weight (literal or figurative); to lay a heavy load upon; to load. [ 1913 Webster ]

I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened. 2 Cor. viii. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To oppress with anything grievous or trying; to overload; as, to burden a nation with taxes. [ 1913 Webster ]

My burdened heart would break. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable). [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It is absurd to burden this act on Cromwell. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To load; encumber; overload; oppress. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. burdoun the bass in music, F. bourdon; cf. LL. burdo drone, a long organ pipe, a staff, a mule. Prob. of imitative origin. Cf. Bourdon. ] 1. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

I would sing my song without a burden. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The drone of a bagpipe. Ruddiman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Burdon. ] A club. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. bearing a heavy load; as, a hiker burdened with a heavy backpack.
Syn. -- heavy-laden, laden, weighed down. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who loads; an oppressor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Burdensome. [ Obs. ] “Burdenous taxations.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Grievous to be borne; causing uneasiness or fatigue; oppressive. [ 1913 Webster ]

The debt immense of endless gratitude
So burdensome. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Heavy; weighty; cumbersome; onerous; grievous; oppressive; troublesome. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Bur"den*some*ly, adv. -- Bur"den*some*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bur + dock the plant. ] (Bot.) A genus of coarse biennial herbs (Lappa), bearing small burs which adhere tenaciously to clothes, or to the fur or wool of animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The common burdock is the Lappa officinalis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Bourdon. ] A pilgrim's staff. [ Written also burden. ] Rom. of R. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To relieve one's self of a burden; to ease the mind. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Burden, v. t. ] [ Cf. Disburthen. ] To rid of a burden; to free from a load borne or from something oppressive; to unload; to disencumber; to relieve. [ 1913 Webster ]

He did it to disburden a conscience. Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

My mediations . . . will, I hope, be more calm, being thus disburdened. Hammond.

Syn. -- To unload; unburden; discharge; free. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. faux bourdon. See False, and Burden a verse. ] 1. (Mus.) (a) A species of counterpoint with a drone bass. (b) A succession of chords of the sixth. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A monotonous refrain. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To load with too great weight or too much care, etc. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The waste which overlies good stone in a quarry. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Too burdensome. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + burden. ] 1. To relieve from a burden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To throw off, as a burden; to unload. [ 1913 Webster ]

See abolishable.
See absolvable.
See absurd.
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See accordant.
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See affable.
See affectionate.
See afraid.
See alliable.
See allowable.
See alterable.
See ambiguous.
See ambitious.
See amendable.
See -American.
See amusive.
See angular.
See anxious.
See apocryphal.
See apostolic.
See apparent.
See appeasable.
See applausive.
See appreciable.
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See approachable.
See artificial.
See artistic.
See assailable.
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See attentive.
See authentic.
See available.
See bailable.
See bearable.
See beautiful.
See beliefful.
See believable.
See beneficial.
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See blamable.
See blemishable.
See blissful.
See boastful.
See bold.
See bookish.
See bounteous.
See bribable.
See brotherly.
See burdensome.
See businesslike.
See busy.
See candid.
See canonical.
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See careful.
See celestial.
See ceremonious.
See challengeable.
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See chary.
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See cheerful.
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See classible.
See classic.
See classical.
See cleanly.
See clear.
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See clerklike.
See close.
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See clubbable.
See coagulable.
See cogitable.
See collectible.
See comic.
See commendable.
See commercial.
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See compact.
See companionable.
See compassionate.
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See competitive.
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See compliant. See complimentary.
See concealable.
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See confinable.
See confutable.
See congealable.
See congenial.
See conjugal.
See conjunctive.
See conquerable.
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See contaminate.
See contradictable.
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See convenable.
See conventional.
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See cordial.
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See correspondent.
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See costly.
See counselable.
See countable.
See counterfeit.
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See courtierlike.
See courtly.
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See creatable.
See critical.
See crystalline.
See cultivable.
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See dead.
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See decipherable.
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See decomposable.
See definable.
See delectable.
See deliberate.
See delightful.
See deliverable.
See democratic.
See demonstrable.
See demonstrative.
See deniable.
See derogatory.
See descendible.
See describable.
See desirable.
See desirous.
See despondent.
See devout.
See diaphanous.
See diligent.
See diminishable.
See discernible.
See disciplinable.
See discordant.
See discoverable.
See dissolvable.
See distinguishable.
See dividable.
See divine.
See domestic.
See doubtful.
[ 1913 Webster ]