burden
part of speech
noun (a burden, burdens); verb (burden, burdens, burdened, burdening)
meaning for a pupil
1) A heavy load that you carry. tree →
2) A difficult duty, worry or problem that is hard to deal with. tree →
3) (verb) To give someone a heavy load or a worry. tree →
4) (law) Burden of proof: the duty to show that something is true. tree →
sense in the lessons
Used in stories (a donkey carrying a burden), feelings (worries as a burden), adult life (money burdens, debts) and law (burden of proof). It tells the reader someone carries something heavy, in the body or the mind. Phrases: a burden to, ease the burden, burden of proof, a weight off my shoulders.
examples
- The donkey carried a heavy burden up the hill. tree →
- She didn't want to be a burden to her family. tree →
- Sharing a worry with a friend eases the burden. tree →
- Homework felt like a burden this week. tree →
- Don't burden yourself with too many clubs. tree →
- In court, the burden of proof is on the person who accuses. tree →
- Debt can be a heavy burden for a family. tree →
- Here he rested his burden against the wall. tree →
note
Countable: burdens. Adjective: burdensome. Similar: load, weight, strain. "Beast of burden" means an animal that carries loads, like a donkey or camel.
In the corpora
- «I hate being a burden to my friends, and I do not expect to be one much longer.
- Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens.
- These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.
- This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:
- How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «burden» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.