burden

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. hindrance; load, weight, encumbrance; charge; refrain. See gravity, repetition.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Something carried]

Syn. load, weight, freight, pack; see freight 1 , load 1 , package 1 .

2. [Anything hard to support or endure]

Syn. encumbrance, trouble, thorn in the flesh, onus, weary load, heavy load, weight, millstone, albatross around one's neck, cross to bear, impediment, imposition, inconvenience, hardship, trial, strain, responsibility; see also affliction , difficulty 2 , duty 2 , misfortune 1 .

v.

Syn. weigh down, encumber, cumber, oppress, overwhelm, hinder, hamper, strain, load with, saddle with, task with, handicap, obligate, lade, tax, charge, overtask, afflict, vex, try, trouble, pile, overcharge, overburden, bear down, bog down, crush, depress, impede, overload, overtax, load down with, make heavy; see also force 1 , hinder , oppress .

Ant. lighten*, relieve, unload.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

load, weight, cross to bear, obligation, stress, millstone, albatross, onus, strain, hardship, responsibility, encumbrance, affliction, workload, incubus.

II

v.

load, weigh down, saddle with, encumber, strain, obligate, bog down, hamper, oppress, tax, yoke.

ANT.: unburden, lighten, free

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) verb To place a burden or heavy load on: charge, cumber, encumber, freight, lade, load, saddle, tax, weight. See OVER.

V

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. Something carried physically: cargo, freight, haul, load. Sports: impost. See HEAVY, OVER. 2. Something hard to bear physically or emotionally: affliction, cross, trial, tribulation. See HEAVY, OVER. 3. A duty or responsibility that is a source of anxiety, worry, or hardship: millstone, onus, tax, weight. Informal: headache. See HEAVY, OVER. 4. An act or course of action that is demanded of one, as by position, custom, law, or religion: charge, commitment, duty, imperative, must, need, obligation, responsibility. See OBLIGATION.

VI

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. The thread or current of thought uniting or occurring in all the elements of a text or discourse: aim, drift, intent, meaning, purport, substance, tendency, tenor, thrust. See MEANING. 2. The general sense or significance, as of an action or statement: amount, drift, import, purport, substance, tenor. Idioms: sum and substance, sum total. See MEANING.