Burden

Noun

 * 1) A heavy load.
 * 2) A responsibility, onus.
 * 3) A cause of worry.
 * 4)  Theme, core idea.

Verb

 * 1)  To encumber with a burden (in any of the noun senses of the word).

Adjectives for Burden
grievous; financial; intolerable; painful; deadly; increasing; mutual; fragrant; double; various (plural); accumulated; racking; enticing; unnecessary; venerable; drowsy; precious; fatal; sinister; clattering; unescapable; never-lifted; serious; economic; appropriate; perpetual; fiery; passive;insufferable; monstrous; secret; baneful; oppressive; onerous; corresponding; expensive; equivalent; sweet; heavy; clerical; sheer; melancholy; aggravating; grim; common; unequal; unjust; dangerous; inevitable; cold; prodigious; ever-growing; staggering; crushing; unendurable; unbearable; cumbersome; over-heavy; dreadful; terrific; gruesome; undue; unusual; strange; pitiful; manifold (plural).

Verbs for Burden
absorb—; ameliorate—; assume—; bear—; bend under—; chafe at—; deliver of—; ease—; groan under—; hamper with—; impose—; labor under—; lay on—; lighten—; load with—; overwhelm with—; shift—; shoulder—; stagger under—; suffer under—; support—; sustain—; unload—;—bows one down; —crushes.

Thesaurus
encumbrance, enjoin, enmesh, ensnarl, entangle, entoil, entrammel, entrap, entwine, envoi, epode, essence, ethics, evil, exact, exhaust, exposition, fag, falsetto, fasten upon, fealty, fetter, figure, fill, focus of attention, focus of interest, folderol, freight, freight with, gall, gall and wormwood, gist, glue on, go hard with, go ill with, gravamen, grievance, guilt, guiltiness, guilty conscience, hamper, hamstring, handicap, harm, harmonic close, haul, haunt, haunt the memory, head, head voice, heading, heap, heap up, heptastich, hexastich, hitch on, hobble, homage, impeachability, impeachableness, impede, impediment, impedimenta, imperative, implication, impose, impose on, impose upon, imposition, inconvenience, incubus, inculpation, incumbency, indictability, indictableness, infix, inflict on, inflict upon, infliction, interlude, intermezzo, introductory phrase, involve, involvement, issue, join with, keep busy, lade, lading, lame, lay, lay on, levy, lie on, lime, limit, line, line of duty, living issue, load, load with care, loading, loyalty, lumber, main point, mass, matter, matter in hand, measure, meat, millstone, mission, monostich, motif, motive, movement, musical phrase, musical sentence, must, nemesis, net, obligation, obsess, octastich, octave, octet, onus, open wound, oppress, oppression, ornament, ottava rima, ought, overburden, overdrive, overload, overtask, overtax, overtaxing, overweigh, overweight, overweighting, overwork, pack, pack away, pack of troubles, part, passage, paste on, payload, peccancy, peck of troubles, penalty, pentastich, period, perturb, pest, pestilence, phrase, pile, pith, place, plague, plus, pocket, point, point at issue, point in question, postfix, poundage, prefix, press down, press hard upon, pressure, prey on, problem, purport, put, put down, put on, put to it, put upon, put with, quantity, quatrain, question, red-handedness, refrain, repeat, repetend, reprehensibility, reproachableness, reprovability, reprovableness, resolution, respect, response, rest hard upon, rhyme royal, ritornello, room, rubric, running sore, sack, saddle, saddle with, saddling, scourge, sea of troubles, section, self-imposed duty, septet, sestet, set, sextet, shackle, ship, shipload, slap on, snarl, sorrow, space, stack, stanza, statement, stave, store, stow, stowage, strain, strophe, subject, subject matter, subject of thought, subject to, subjoin, substance, suffix, superadd, superincumbency, superpose, surcharge, sweat, syllable, tack on, tag, tag on, tailpiece, tangle, task, tax, taxing, tercet, terza rima, tetrastich, text, theme, thorn, thrust, tire, toil, tonnage, topic, torment, trailerload, trainload, trammel, treble, triplet, tristich, trouble, truckload, try one, tutti, tutti passage, undersong, unite with, upset, upshot, vanload, variation, verse, vexation, visitation, voce, voce di petto, voce di testa, voice, volume, waters of bitterness, wear out, weary, weigh, weigh down, weigh heavy on, weigh on, weigh upon, weight, weight down, weight down with, white elephant, woe, work, yoke with, Spenserian stanza, accommodation, add, adjoin, affix, afflict, affliction, agglutinate, agitate, albatross, allegiance, amount, anacrusis, annex, antistrophe, append, arraignability, arraignableness, assigned task, attach, bag, bale, bane, barrel, basis, bass, bass passage, bear down on, bear hard upon, bis, bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, blameworthiness, bloody hands, bob, body, book, bother, bottle, bounden duty, bourdon, box, bridge, bugbear, burden of care, burden with, burdening, burthen, business, busy, cadence, calamity, call of duty, can, cankerworm of care, canto, capacity, care, cargo, carload, cartload, case, censurability, censurableness, chant, chapter, charge, chargeability, charging, chest voice, chorus, clog, coda, coloratura, commitment, complicate, complicity, concern, conjoin, content, cordage, couplet, cramp, crate, criminality, cripple, cross, crown of thorns, crush one, crushing burden, culpability, cumber, cumbrance, curse, deadweight, death, decorate, dedication, deference, demand, destruction, development, devoir, devotion, difficulty, dirty hands, disadvantage, discomfort, disease, disquiet, distich, distress, disturb, ditto, division, drag, drive, drone, drone bass, duties and responsibilities, duty, embarrass, embarrassment, encumber.

Etymology
From byrþen:.

Alternative forms

 * burthen

Derived terms

 * burdensome
 * beast of burden