bur·den (bûr?dn)n.1. Something that is carried.2. a. Something that is emotionally difficult to bear.b. A source of great worry or stress; weight: The burden of economic sacrifice rests on the workers of the plant.3. A responsibility or duty: The burden of organizing the campaign fell to me.4. A principal or recurring idea; a theme: “The burden of what he said was to defend enthusiastically the conservative aristocracy” (J.A. Froude).5. Music a. A drone, as of a bagpipe or pedal point.b. Archaic The chorus or refrain of a composition.c. Archaic The bass accompaniment to a song.6. Nautical a. The amount of cargo that a vessel can carry.b. The weight of the cargo carried by a vessel at one time.7. The amount of a disease-causing entity present in an organism.tr.v. bur·dened, bur·den·ing, bur·dens 1. To cause difficulty or distress to; distress or oppress.2. To load or overload.[Middle English, from Old English byrthen; see bher- in Indo-European roots. Noun, senses 4 and 5, influenced by bourdon.]Synonyms: burden, affliction, albatross, cross, millstone, trial, tribulation These nouns denote something onerous or troublesome: the burden of a guilty conscience; considered the television an affliction that destroyed the spirit of community; a poorly built home that became his albatross; an unhappy marriage that became a cross to bear; a routine duty that turned into a millstone; a troublemaker who is a trial to the teacher; suffered many tribulations in rising from poverty. See Also Synonyms at substance.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.burden (?b??d?n) n1. something that is carried; load2. something that is exacting, oppressive, or difficult to bear: the burden of responsibility. 3. (Nautical Terms) nautical a. the cargo capacity of a shipb. the weight of a ship’s cargovb (tr) 4. (sometimes foll by up) to put or impose a burden on; load5. to weigh down; oppress: the old woman was burdened with cares. [Old English byrthen; related to beran to bear1, Old Frisian berthene burden, Old High German burdin]burden (?b??d?n) n1. (Music, other) a line of words recurring at the end of each verse of a ballad or similar song; chorus or refrain2. (Rhetoric) the principal or recurrent theme of a speech, book, etc3. (Music, other) another word for bourdon[C16: from Old French bourdon bass horn, droning sound, of imitative origin]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014bur?den1 (?b?r dn) n. 1. that which is carried; load. 2. that which is borne with difficulty; onus: the burden of leadership. 3. a. the weight of a ship’s cargo. b. the carrying capacity of a ship. 4. overburden (def. 3). v.t. 5. to load heavily. 6. to load oppressively; trouble. [before 1000; Middle English, variant of burthen, Old English byrthen] bur?den2 (?b?r dn) n. 1. an often repeated main point, message, or idea. 2. a musical refrain; chorus. [1275?1325; Middle English bordoun, burdoun albatross around the neck Burden, weight; any inhibiting encumbrance. In Samuel Taylor Coleridge?s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798), the slayer of the albatross?a bird of good omen to sailors?was punished by having the dead bird hung about his neck. Though within the context of the poem the dead albatross symbolizes guilt and punishment for sin, its contemporary use rarely carries this connotation. Often an albatross around one?s neck is no more than a burdensome annoyance, a ?drag? that inhibits one?s freedom or lessens one?s pleasure.ball and chain A wife; one?s girl friend or mistress; any person perceived as a burden or hindrance. This figurative meaning of ball and chain is derived from the iron ball which is secured by a chain to the leg of a prisoner in order to prevent escape. Insofar as having a wife inhibits one?s freedom, this slang expression is aptHe deliberately attempted to commit suicide by askin? me ?How?s the ball and chain?? meanin? my wife. (Collier?s, June 25, 1921)cross to bear A painful burden or affliction; an oppressive encumbrance. The expression derives from the heavy cross which Jesus was forced to carry up Mount Calvary, and upon which he was subsequently crucified. Though the phrase most often applies to serious illness, pain, or handicaps, it is frequently extended to include any bothersome annoyance, any unpleasant person or circumstance that must be endured.a millstone around the neck A heavy burden, an onus, a cross. A millstone is either of a pair of round, weighty stones between which grain and other like materials are ground in a mill.The mill-stone intended for the necks of those vermin ? the dealers in corn, was found to fall upon the heads of the consumers. (Jeremy Bentham, Defence of Usury, 1787)The metaphor is said to have been suggested by the Biblical passage (Matthew 18:6) in which Jesus warns those who would corrupt the pure and humble nature of children:But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.a monkey on one?s back A depressing, often controlling burden; a cross to bear; an addiction or dependence. This phrase may be a variation of the obsolete a turkey on one?s back, but the implication remains the same: an addict carries an extra burden, one demanding a large, if not total, commitment of time, effort, and money to support.Having a monkey on your back ? always worked out logically to be the first purpose in a junkie?s life. (E. R. Johnson, God Keepers, 1970)white elephant An unwanted or useless possession that is difficult to dispose of; a possession that costs more to keep and maintain than it is worth. This expression probably alludes to the albino elephants which were once considered sacred in Siam (now Thailand). Since an elephant of any color is inconvenient and expensive to own, it was purportedly a custom for a king to bestow one of these unique white elephants as a gift upon a courtier or other person whom he wished to subject to financial ruin. In the United States, tag sales, garage sales, and rummage sales are often appropriately nicknamed white elephant sales.