| burden | 1. To encumber with weight (literal or figurative); to lay a heavy load upon; to load. "I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened." (2 Cor. Viii. 13) 2. To oppress with anything grievous or trying; to overload; as, to burden a nation with taxes. "My burdened heart would break." (Shak) 3. To impose, as a load or burden; to lay or place as a burden (something heavy or objectionable). "It is absurd to burden this act on Cromwell." (Coleridge) Synonym: To load, encumber, overload, oppress. Origin: Burdened; Burdening. 1. That which is borne or carried; a load. "Plants with goodly burden bowing." (Shak) 2. That which is borne with labour or difficulty; that which is grievous, wearisome, or oppressive. "Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone, To all my friends a burden grown." (Swift) 3. The capacity of a vessel, or the weight of cargo that she will carry; as, a ship of a hundred tons burden. 4. <chemical> The tops or heads of stream-work which lie over the stream of tin. 5. <chemistry> The proportion of ore and flux to fuel, in the charge of a blast furnace. 6. A fixed quantity of certain commodities; as, a burden of gad steel, 120 pounds. 7. A birth. Beast of burden, an animal employed in carrying burdens. Burden of proof, 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. Synonym: 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. Origin: OE. Burden, burthen, birthen, birden, AS. Byrthen; akin to Icel. Byrthi, Dan. Byrde, Sw. Borda, G. Burde, OHG. Burdi, Goth. Baorei, fr. The root of E. Bear, AS. Beran, Goth. Bairan. 92. See 1st Bear. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| body burden | The total amount of a chemical, metal or radioactive substance present at any time after absorption in the body of man or animal. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| genetic burden | The genetic debt due to harmful mutation but as yet undischarged. (In a large population of fixed size every mutation with diminished genetic fitness will eventually become extinct and depending on the details of inheritance and phenotype must be paid for by a fixed number of genetic deaths per mutation, the genetic debt.) (05 Mar 2000) |
| clinical burden | A burden that differs from genetic burden mainly in the added component of morbidity; a trait that is neither a clinical or a genetic lethal may be grossly disabling. (05 Mar 2000) |
| worm burden | <epidemiology> The number of worms an individual host carries. Sometimes directly measurable ( Ascaris ), sometimes only indirectly (schistosomiasis). (05 Dec 1998) |
| tumour burden | <oncology> The size of the tumour or number of abnormal cells in the organ or tissue. (16 Dec 1997) |